Mulan The Naruto Edition
by Ravena Felidae
Summary: It's Disney's Mulan with the cast of Naruto, yo!
1. Character Line Up

**Character Line-up!**

_**Mulan Characters as played by...**_

_**The Good Guys:**_

**_Mulan=Tenten (She already has that China Girl thing going on there...)  
_**

**_Captain Lee Shang=Neji (because he owns! Nuff' said)_**

**_Mushu and Cri-Kee= Naruto and Konohamaru_**

**_Yao, Ling and Chien Po= Kiba, Lee and Choji_**

**_Little Brother( the Dog)= Akamaru_**

**_Khan ( the Horse)= Kankuro_**

**_Mulan's Parents= Asuma and Kurenai_**

**_Mulan's Grandmother= Chiyo_**

**_1st Ancestor= The third Hokage_**

**_Other Ancestors= The two old people who hang around the Hokage (Koharu and Homura), the other Hokage's._**

**_Emperor= Tsunade ( I suppose that makes her empress then...)_**

**_Advisor= Mizuki (cuz' he's an ass)_**

**_Matchmaker= Konan

* * *

  
_**

**_Bad Guys  
_**

**_Shuan Yu= Pein (Orochimaru looked too gay for it)_**

**_His Hawk: Sasuke  
_**

**_Other Bad dudes= the Akatsuki members and whatever bad guy that showed up in the anime.

* * *

_**

**_Others_**

**_Pretty much every other minor character and such.  
_**


	2. The Invasion

**_The Invasion...  


* * *

_**

We open the scene to the Great Wall of the Fire Country (*Gets weird looks from everyone* R.F: Just work with me here...).

It was night time and all was silent save for the sound of crickets chirping and the footsteps of Iruka, the guard on patrol. Everything seemed pretty peaceful when a screeching falcon came flying down and knocked his headband off before flying off again and landed on a nearby roof.

It looked at Iruka with intense red colored eyes with a swirling tomoe pattern. It was black all over save for it's white chest and under belly and had a few feathers sticking out from the back of it's head (If you don't get the idea, it's Sasuke in falcon form). Iruka looked back at the bird curiously as he rubbed his sore head and picked up his headband from the ground. Suddenly, the bird turned away and screeched loudly. Before Iruka could react, a grappling hook shot up from the side of the wall and hooked itself securely, narrowly missing him. This was immediately followed by a huge shower of other grappling hooks, prompting Iruka to quickly run to the nearest signal post.

"We're under attack! Quick, light the signal!" he cried when he was suddenly ambushed by Fuujin and Raijin (The Legendary Stupid brothers) who swung their fists at him. Iruka was barely able to dodge for his life as he successfully managed to climb the ladder leading to the signal post. Quickly grabbing a nearby torch, Iruka was about to light the cauldron when he came face to face with a dark hooded figure with a pair of circle patterned eyes looking out intensely at him. Sasuke flew down to the figure and perched on his shoulder. The person walked up and removed his hood to reveal himself to be Pein.

Not wasting anytime, Iruka quickly tossed the flaming torch into the cauldron, setting it ablaze. This immediately alerted the others to light their own cauldrons as small fires began springing up all over the Great Wall. "Now all of the Fire Country knows you're here!" said Iruka confidently.

Pein said nothing as he broke off a nearby flag and set it on fire. "Perfect..." he said, smiling slyly.

* * *

The news of the invasion travelled quickly the ears of the General as the doors to Hokage's throne room opened and in entered Lord Hiashi with Izumo and Kotetsu. They quickly walked up to the staircase where the Fifth Hokage, Lady Tsunade sat on throne at the top of the stairs. Behind her was Mizuki, holding a clipboard.

Lord Hiashi and the other two quickly kneeled down. "Your Majesty, the Akatsuki have crossed our Northern Borders!" announced Lord Hiashi quickly.

"Impossible! No one can get through the Great Wall!" said Mizuki, ignorantly when he got silenced as Tsunade raised her hand.

"Pein is leading them..." added Hiashi gravely. "We'll set up defences around your palace immediately!"

"No! Send your troops to protect my people!" ordered Tsunade standing up as Mizuki began to take notes. "Mizuki!"

"Yes my Lady!"

"Deliver constription messages to all the provinces of the Fire Country, call up reserves and as many new recruits as possible!" she instructed as she began walking down the steps.

Lord Hiashi and his immediately stood up. "Forgive your Majesty, but I believe that troops can stop them," Hiashi protested confidently.

Tsunade shook her head and placed a hand on Hiashi's shoulder. "General Hiashi, I understand your Hyuuga pride and confidence in your troops but I refuse to take any chances. A single grain can tip the scale. One man can make the difference between victory and defeat," said Tsunade solemnly.


	3. A Perfect Girl I'm not

**_A Perfect Girl I'm not...

* * *

_**

**_By the way, because Konoha is the main village of the Fire Country, in this story it becomes the Capital. Tenten's home town is just a small random town outside of Konoha.

* * *

_**Meanwhile, far away in a small town just a few miles from Konoha, a young girl with long brown hair tied up into hair buns wearing a white tank-top and black shorts is sitting on her bed eating a bowl of rice as she studied a chart of kanji characters.

"Quiet and demure..." Tenten muttered as she picked at her rice. "Graceful, Polite..." she continued popping some rice in her mouth.

"Delicate..." the girl muttered some more as she chewed and swallowed, dipping a calligraphy brush into a pot of ink and began to write on the final kanji on the bottom of her left arm where she had copied a few of the characters representing the traits she was muttering on earlier. "Refined...poised...PUNCTUAL!" she finally exclaimed when she heard a rooster nearby crow.

"Oh crap!" exclaimed Tenten jumping out of bed and running out the room. "Akamaru!" she called loudly as she ran into the kitchen blowing on her arm for the ink to dry. "Akamaru! Aka- Oh there you are!" she cooed as Tenten looked on the floor to see Akamaru just awakening from his nap. The puppy barked happily and wagged his tail at the girl.

"Who's the smartest doggy in the world? Come on smart boy! Can you help me with my chores today?" she asked as Tenten grabbed a bag of chicken feed from a pile in the corner and ripped a small hole in it before using some thin rope to tie it Akamaru's collar along with a bamboo pole which she hung a bone from.

Akamaru immediately saw the bone and barked happily as began to chase it. Tenten quickly held open the door for the pup as he began running only to collide with the wall, making the girl flinch a little. Fortunately, Akamaru seemed unfazed as he continued to chase the bone outside with the attached bag leaving a trail of feed behind him which was immediately pecked at by some nearby hens. A large black horse with purple markings on his white face was just minding his own business chewing on a stalk of hay as he watched Akamaru run before shaking his head. (**R/F: Yep, you guessed it. It's Kankuro, alright.)**

Nearby, in a small ancestral shrine, Asuma placed a joss stick on a small hanging golden holder shaped like a small Kyuubi slowly kneeling down to pray. He had one foot all bandaged up in a cast and a pair of crutches. Asuma bowed down in front of the memorial stone tablet of the 1st ancestor. "Honorable ancestors, please help Mulan impress the matchmaker today..." he began to pray putting his hands together when Akamaru came running in barking loudly while chickens trailed behind the pup eating the feed that was still trailing behind him.

Asuma opened one eye to see the chickens around and sighed. "Please, _**PLEASE**_, help her..." he prayed harder.

Just at that moment, Tenten was coming up the stairs carrying a small white teapot and a matching teacup on a circular brown tray. She wore a long-sleeved white Chinese blouse with a high collar and red fastener and edges paired with similar colored puffy pants. She stopped to see Akamaru on his hind legs whimpering in vain trying to reach the bone that the stick held out of reach. Smiling, Tenten reached down and lowered the bone to Akamaru who began chewing on it happily as he wagged his tail.

"Father, I brought your- Whoops!" Tenten called as she accidentally collided with Asuma who was just coming out of the shrine. The tray and teacup both fell to the ground with a crash but fortunately Asuma managed to catch the teapot by the handle with his crutch.

"Tenten!" exclaimed Asuma in surprise.

"Don't worry I brought a spare!" said Tenten whipping out another cup from her pocket tipped the hanging teapot to pour some tea.

"Tenten," Asuma said again, this time in a more serious voice.

"Remember what the doctor said, you need three cups of tea in the morning and three cups of tea at night so that your leg will heal a lot faster."

"Tenten."

"It's already been two months since Kankuro accidentally broke your leg. Keep up with your medicine and it should definitely heal in a few weeks."

"Tenten, you're should already by in town. We are counting on you t-"

"To uphold the family honor.." interjected Tenten smiling brightly. "Don't worry Father, I won't let you down," she reassured him as she secretly pulled down her sleeve to conceal the kanji list she wrote earlier. "Wish me luck!"

"Hurry!" urged Asuma seeing his daughter run off. He glanced over to Akamaru who looked back at him with the bone in his mouth. "I'm going to...pray some more..." he muttered hobbling back into the shrine.

* * *

Elsewhere in town, Kurenai paced about worriedly outside a salon, wringing her hands nervously. Anko poked her head out of the door and frowned heavily. "Kurenai, is your daughter here yet? The Matchmaker is not a very patient woman," Anko warned, disappearing back inside.

Kurenai sighed heavily and shook her head. "Of all days to be late. I should've prayed to the ancestors for luck..."

"How lucky can _**they**_ be? They're dead!" commented an old woman bluntly. Kurenai turned around to see her mother, Chiyo, holding a small cage with a Konohamaru cricket inside. Kurenai smiled and shook her head at her mother while she continued to search the crowd for her very tardy daughter.

Meanwhile, Chiyo walked over to the side of a very busy road and held up the cricket cage. "Besides, I've got all the luck we'll need..." she muttered slyly. _"This is your chance to prove yourself!"_ she whispered to Konohamaru.

The cricket chirped and looked at her wierdly when Chiyo suddenly blindfolded herself and literally blindy roamed into the busy street.

"Grandma, no!" cried Kurenai but it was too late as a horse-drawn cart and a street vendor cart came at the old woman from either direction. The two quickly hit the brakes and collided with a loud crash as a huge dust cloud filled the air. Chiyo emerged from the dust cloud unscathed and stopped once she reached the other side of the street. Chiyo opened her eyes to see Konohamaru still in his cage.

"Yup! This cricket's a lucky one!" she called over to Kurenai, who heaved a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, Konohamaru appeared to be traumatized and promptly fainted.

Suddenly, Kurenai heard the neighing of a horse a looked to see Tenten riding in bareback on Kankuro. "I'm here!" she announced flipping of Kankuro just as he stopped. Her hair was all messy with one of her hair buns coming loose and had leaves sticking out of her hair.

Kurenai frowned at Tenten heavily, placing her hands on her hips. "What?" asked Tenten. "But Mama I had to-"

"None of your excuses, now lets get you cleaned up!" scolded Kurenai as she dragged Tenten into the salon where Anko was waiting while took a hold of Kankuro's reins.

* * *

Chinese music began to play as Anko plucked a leaf from Tenten's hair and looked at her in disdain . **_"This is what you give me to work with? Well honey, I've seen worst!"_** she sang as she shoved Tenten behind a screen and began to undo the girl's hair buns and strip her despite the girl's protests.

**_"We're going to turn this sow's ear,"_** Anko continued as she roughly pulled off Tenten's pants, causing the girl to loose her balance and fall into a tub of soapy water behind her with a splash. **_"Into a silk purse~!"_** she announced pushing away the screen just as Tenten's head emerged from the bath.

"It's freezing!" Tenten complained shivering.

"It would have been warm if you had been here on time," said Kurenai smiling just as Anko came back and dumped a bucket of water on Tenten, causing her hair to cover her face. Anko began to sing again as she began to roughly shampoo Tenten's long brown hair, making her flinch in pain.

**_Anko:_**

_**We'll have you**__**, washed and dried**_  
_**Primped and polished till you glow with pride**_,  
_**Trust my recipe for instant bride**_

_**"You'll bring honor to us all~!.."**_sang Anko as she dumped scented body wash on Tenten and walked away with the bottles.

Kurenai had already grabbed a sponge and was ready to scrub Tenten when she turned over the girl's left to see the kanji she had written. "Tenten, what is this?" she asked.

Tenten looked nervous as she drew away her arm. "Um...notes. In case, I forget something..." she lied, trying to look innocent just as Chiyo came in with Konohamaru.

"Hold this, we'll need more luck then I thought!" exclaimed Chiyo, handing the cricket over to Kurenai.

* * *

It wasn't long until Tenten was brought out of the bath and shoved into another room wearing a white bath robe and was made to kneel down on cushion while Hana Inuzuka and Ayame the Ramen Girl brushed her long brown hair separately and began to braid them. They had apparently caught on to the rhythm and began to sing too.

_**Hana:**_

_**Wait and see**_,  
_**When we're through**_...

_**Ayame:**_

_**Boys will gladly go to war for you**_...

_**"With good fortune..."**_sang Hana as she turned the braids into hair loops and tied them with bright red ribbons at the back of Tenten's loops.

_**"And a great hairdo!"** added Ayame cheerfully, showing Tenten her reflection as she pushed a stray strand of hair back for the girl._

_**"You'll bring honor to us all~!.."**_ they sang in unison with Kurenai who joined in at the last moment

* * *

After getting her hair done, Kurenai led Tenten through a yard where Sakura, Ino, Hinata and Temari were getting outfitted in kimonos by their mothers for the first two, and their aunts for the last two. Kurenai and the older women continued the song from here.

**_"A girl can bring her family_****_ great honor in one way," _**they all began to sing just as Kurenai and Tenten walked past Kakashi and Shikaku playing shogi. Tenten paused for a while and looked at the board. Shikaku had just made his move and was looking at a depressed Kakashi confidently. **_"By striking a good match_****_, and this could be the day!" _**they sang just as Tenten easily moved one of Kakashi's pieces that countered Shikaku's last move when Kurenai came back and dragged her away, leaving a stunned Shikaku and a now very triumphant Kakashi.

* * *

It wasn't long until Tenten found herself at the dressers where she was outfitted with a white silk kimono designed with swirling red, gold and orange autumn leaves. Shikamaru's mom ( Her name escapes me...) came into the room carrying a matching scarlet obi and handed it to Kurenai and Anko.

_**"Men want girls with good taste,"**_ she sang as she held Tenten's kimono in place.

_**"Calm,"**_suggested Anko grabbing one part of the sash.

_**"Obedient!"**_added Kurenai grabbing the other part as Anko pushed the wheeled stool she sitting on and rode it as she wrapped the sash around Tenten.

**_"Who work fast-paced!"_** sang Shikamaru's mom again.

_**"With good breeding," **_sang Kurenai as she grabbed her end tightly.

_**"And a tiny waist!"**_ added Anko grabbing her end as well as she and Kurenai pulled the sash tightly to prove their point causing Tenten to gasp when she had her breath squeezed out of her.

_**"You'll bring honor to us all~!"**_ sang the three women just as Shikamaru's mom finished tying on the obi and stepped back with the others to admire their work.

* * *

Upon walking outside all the women in the area began to sing with Kurenai.

_**Everybody:**_

**_We all must serve our Emperor_**,**_who guards us from the Huns_**,  
**_A man by bearing arms_****_, a girl by bearing sons__!

* * *

_**

It was the make-up hut for Tenten now with Shizune already having helped the girl wear concealer, powder, and the other make-up. As she picked up a tube of red lipstick and began to apply it, Shizune and Kurenai sang the next part in canon. When she was finished, Shizune allowed Tenten to look at her new face. The girl quirked an eyebrow before grabbing a tissue and dabbed a bit of the lipstick off and smiled in satisfaction.

_S:_**_When we're through you can't fail,_**

**_(_**_K:_**_When we're through you can't fail,)_**

_S:_**_Like a lotus blossom soft and pale,_**

**_(_**_K:_**_Like a lotus blossom soft and pale,)_**

_S:_**_How could any fellow say "No sale,"_**

**_(_**_K:_**_How could any fellow say "No sale",)_**

_S:_**_You'll bring honor to us all,_**

**_"You'll bring honor to us all~...!"_** finished Kurenai as she undid a bundle containing a pair of small golden earrings shaped like kunai and wore them on her daughter. "There, you're ready."

"Not yet!" exclaimed Chiyo rushing in with a few things and shoved an apple in Tenten's mouth, who munched on it hungrily. "An apple for serenity," she began to say, slipping in a Yin-Yang pendant into Tenten's obi. "A pendant for balance!" Chiyo continued before whipping out a jade necklace. _**"Beads of jade, for beauty! You must proudly show it!" **_sang the old woman as Kurenai handed her Konohamaru's cricket quickly backed up in fear upon seeing Chiyo. **_"Now add a cricket, just for luck. And even you can't blow it!"_** she sang attaching the cage to Tenten's waist.

* * *

It was finally Tenten's turn to sing as she walked out into the open, nervously wringing her hands as she turned to the heavens.

**_Tenten:_**

**_Ancestors, hear my plea!_**  
**_ Help me not to make a fool of me,_**  
**_ And to not uproot my family tree._**..

**_"Keep my father standing tall_~...!"** she sang when Kurenai suddenly handed the girl a red parasol, prompting Tenten to pick up her robe and jog past a corner where the other girls began walking poised in a single file towards the Matchmaker's. Sakura led the front, followed by Ino, Hinata and Temari. Tenten quickly caught up to them and took her place behind Temari. She glanced at the girls in front of her and copied how their held their parasols and how they carried themselves.**_ "Scarier than the undertaker_****_, We are meeting our matchmaker!"_**

(R.F.: *Holds up a conductor rod* EVERYBODY NOW!)

_**Everybody:**_

_**Destiny**__**, guard our girls**_,  
_** And our future**__** as it fast unfurls**_,  
_** Please look kindly on**__** these cultured pearls**_,  
_** Each a perfect porcelain doll~!...**_

(R.F.: Now just the girls!)

_**Sakura:Please bring honor to us,**_

_**Ino:Please bring honor to us,**_

_**Hinata:Please bring honor to us,**_

_**Temari:Please bring honor to us,**_

_**"Please, bring, honor to us AAAALLLL~~...!" **_sang everyone as the girls began to spread out in front of the Matchmaker's. Tenten awkwardly copied the other girls as they all opened their parasols kneeled covering themselves wth them.

Suddenly the doors burst open to reveal a bored blue haired woman with multiple face piercings and a paper rose in her hair holding a clipboard. "Sarutobi Tenten!" she called.

"Present!" chirped the girl popping up from behind her parasol cheerfully.

Konan narrowed her eyes at the girl. "Speaking without permission..." she muttered curtly, scribbling on her clipboard.

_"Shimatta!"_ groaned Tenten silently as she mentally kicked herself before following Konan into the house as the woman slammed the door behind them.

_"Who spat in her bean curd?" _whispered Chiyo to Kurenai in annoyance.

* * *

Inside, Konan began by judging Tenten's physical appearance. "Hmph, too skinny!" she grunted scribbling on her clipboard. "No good for bearing sons..."

Meanwhile, Konohamaru had managed to slip his cage and was about to jump off when Tenten quickly caught him. She tried to put him back but the cricket managed to wriggle loose. Tenten tried grabbing at the cricket again but Konohamaru kept dodging. When she finally managed to catch the little bug, Tenten was forced to hide the bug in her mouth just as Konan whipped around.

"Recite the final admonition!" ordered Konan.

Tenten forced herself to smile and nodded her head vigorously as she pulled out a crimson fan and covered the bottom half of her face to hide her spitting Konohamaru out. Tenten quickly cleared her throat. "Fulfill your duties calmly and...ress...pectfully," she began to recite as Tenten tried to peek at her cheat notes written on her arm only to discover that the characters had gotten wet once more from the bath earlier and were smeared. "Um, Reflect before you snack. ACT!" she quickly corrected herself. "This shall bring you honor and glory!" Tenten finished quickly, heaving a huge sigh of relief as she fanned herself.

Suddenly, Konan grabbed the girl's wrist and snatched her fan and looked at it in the front and back to see if she had cheat notes. Of course, she didn't find since they were written on Tenten's arm. Konan squinted at Tenten a little, who smiled innocently. The woman grunted and handed back the fan to the girl.

"This way..." she said pulling Tenten's arm.

Tenten bit her lip just as Konan removed her hand unaware that her hand now had black ink on it. Konan picked up a teapot that that was being heated and placed it in front of Tenten. "Now, pour the tea," Konan instructed gesturing with her inked hand which she thankfully hasn't noticed yet.

Tenten stared at the inked hand as she sat down picked up the teapot while Konan carried on with her lecture. "Now, to please your future in-laws, you must demonstrate a sense of dignity," the woman began to say as she traced her chin with the inked hand, leaving a thin ink beard and goatee. "And...refinement. You must also be poised."

Tenten continued to stare until she realized that she had missed the cup and poured on the table. Quickly, she stopped and poured into the teacup this time. Suddenly Tenten heard a small chirping as she looked down. Her eyes widened when she saw Konohamaru relaxing in the tea as if it was hot spring. Tenten swallowed heavily when Konan picked up the teacup. "Ano...pardon me..." she tried to say softly.

"And SILENT!" ordered Konan sternly as she inhaled the aroma of her tea unaware of the cricket. Konohamaru's head shot up when he saw that Konan was about to drink from the cup.

"May I just take that back?" Tenten tried to ask politely while trying to pull the cup away only to have Konan resist. "For a moment!"

Suddenly, Konan lost her balance and fell over backwards causing the tea to splash on all over her while Konohamaru fell down the front of her shirt, making Tenten gasp loudly. Konan stood up and glared at the girl angrily. "Why you clumsy-!" she began to growl when she began to feel Konohamaru jumping about in her shirt in an attempt to escape. While trying to reach for him, Konan knocked over the heating vase she used for the tea earlier and tripped, falling on the blazing hot coals that spilled out.

Konan screamed loudly as skirt became scorched and was smoking as the woman hopped about the room. Tenten tried to help put it out by fanning the spot but it only made matters worse as the skirt burst into flames, making Konan scream and hop about more.

* * *

Outside, everyone flinched when they heard an audible crash fro inside.

"I think it's going well in there," Chiyo began to say when Konan burst out screaming, causing the others to look up.

"Put it out! Put it out!" Konan screamed when Tenten quickly ran out with the teapot. "PUT IT OU-" **_SPLASH!_** went the tea as Tenten threw it over the woman, putting out her fiery butt with a fizzle.

Konan glared with her make-up running down her face at Tenten who meekly bowed and gave back the teapot and scurried back to Kurenai and Chiyo with her head down. Konohamaru hopped out quickly and went back into his cage frightened. The woman stomped up to Tenten and her family furiously. "You are a** DISGRACE!**" she screamed throwing down the teapot. "You **MAY** look like a bride! But you will **NEVER **bring your family _**HONOR****!"**_

Konan promptly turned and went back into the house while onlookers moved away whispering to each other. Kurenai hugged her daughter comfortingly while Chiyo held her hand. All Tenten could do at that time was to bow her head in shame at the thought of letting her family down.

* * *

_**R.F: Two chapters up in day!** **I'm on a ROLL!**_


	4. But a Soldier I can be!

_**But a Soldier I can be!**_

* * *

Tenten entered her house through the front gate leading Kankuro behind her by his reins. She had hoped to sneak in unseen when Tenten saw Asuma hobble out on his crutches. He looked at his daughter with a hopeful smile, only to make Tenten feel worse as she turned away and led Kankuro to his stable. Taking of his reins, Tenten allowed her horse to drink from his trough as she looked at her reflection and sighed sadly, brushing hair out of her face.

**_"Look at me...I will never pass for a perfect bride..._**_**Or a perfect daughter...**_**_"_**she began to sing as she removed her necklace and earrings. Just as Tenten was about to walk away she saw Kurenai walk up to Asuma who smiled at her hopefully, only to be replied with a sad shake of his wife's head. Tenten's heart ached at the sight of their disappointed faces as she walked away towards the back garden where she released Konohamaru into the bushes before walking away._** "Can it be? I'm not meant to play this part?"**_

Konohamaru looked at the girl walking away with a guilty look since it was his fault that Tenten messed up. Tenten continued to walk towards the house's large lily pond where she began to cross the bridge leading over it. **_"Now I see...that if I were truly to be myself,"_** continued Tenten as she balanced herself walking on the railing before jumping down. **_"I will break my family's heart..."_**

Tenten walked along the edge of the pond and looked at her reflection sadly in the clear water.**_ "Whoooo is that girl I see? Staring straight, back at me? Why is my reflection someone I...don't know?"_** she sang leaning her head against the large stone Kyuubi before walking up the stairs to the family shrine.

Not far behind her, Konohamaru had paddled across the pond using a lily pad and hopped up the stairs after the girl who just entered the shrine and glanced at the multiple reflections of herself from the shiny surfaces of the memorials before kneeling in front of the 1st Ancestor. **_"Some...how... I cannot hide, who I am, though I've tried," _**sang Tenten bowing before looking at the reflection in front of her. _**"When will my reflection show, who I am, inside...?" **_

Tenten used her sleeve to wipe off her make-up and looked at her multiple reflections again before undoing her braids. **_"When will my reflection show, who I am...inside__...?" _**she finished as Tenten left the shrine tying her hair up again in her usual hair buns as she sat on stone bench under a nearby cherry tree in blossom looking at the earrings given to her earlier that day.

A small cough caught her attention as Tenten looked up to Asuma approaching her. She quickly turned away in shame, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Asuma smiled and sat down beside his daughter. For a moment, there was an awkward silence between the two. "My, my...what beautiful blossoms we have this year!" he exclaimed admiring the cherry blossoms around him when he spotted an unopened bud. "But look," Asuma pointed out to Tenten who turned her head. "This one's late, but I'll bet that when it blooms, it will be the most beautiful of all!" he said taking the earrings from Tenten's hands and wearing them on her.

Tenten smiled at her father feeling better when suddenly a loud rhythmic thumping of the town drum was heard. At that moment, Mizuki, Izumo and Kotetsu came riding in to town with imperial flags straming behind them. The Sarutobi family peeked out from their gate to see a crowd gathering around the trio. Asuma glanced at his wife grimly and walked out. Tenten tried to follow but Kurenai shook her head as she trailed behind her husband. Tenten almost looked dejected when Chiyo cleared her throat and gestured at the nearby ladder next to the stables. The girl nodded a thanks to her grandmother as she used the ladder to allow her to view over the wall.

"Citizens! I bring a proclamation from the capital city of Konoha! The Akatsuki have invaded the Fire Country!" announced Mizuki to everyone. All the townspeople gasped loudly in fear at the news and began whispering among themselves. "By order of the Lady Hokage, one man from each family must come and serve in the Imperial Army!" he continued, pulling out a list of families and began calling out each name.

Tenten gasped loudly when she realized what it meant.

"The Sarutobi Family!" called Mizuki.

Asuma's face looked grim as he gave his crutches to Kurenai and limped towards the man. He bowed respectfully and stood straight. "I am ready to serve the Hokage!" he declared.

Just as Izumo was about to hand a scroll over to him, Tenten jumped down from the wall and ran towards Asuma. "No, Father you can't go!" she cried stepping in between her father and Izumo. "Please sir, my father has already-"

"Silence!" ordered Mizuki riding up and snatching the scroll from Izumo. "You will do well to teach your daughter to hold her tongue in a man's presence!" he sneered at Asuma, with Tenten glaring daggers at the man.

"Tenten, you dishonor me..." said Asuma softly, turning his head away from his daughter. Tenten looked at her father in disbelief at first then in sadness as Chiyo came out and led the poor girl away.

"Report tomorrow at the Eastern Border camp!" ordered Mizuki handing Asuma his scroll.

"I will," replied the man, accepting and bowing his head as Mizuki continued to call out other families. Asuma turned and limped back into the Sarutobi compound, ignoring his wife who held out his crutches for him. The three Sarutobi women looked at Asuma sadly as he limped away into the house.

* * *

Inside, Asuma went into a special room where a large gold painted cupboard was. He opened to reveal his old Imperial uniform (It's an Anbu uniform with a monkey mask). Just then Tenten was walking past the room when she saw her father and immediately stopped, hiding herself by the door. She slowly looked in to see Asuma pull out a katana from it's sheath. Tenten watched as her father began to practice his swordplay. Everything seemed fine at first until Asuma tried to put his weight on his bum leg. Asuma cringed as he collapsed to the floor. Tenten almost wanted to run in but stopped herself as she watched Asuma slowly pick himself up and looked at the scroll that was given to him and clutched it tightly.

Later on at the dinner table, the atmosphere was tense as the family began to eat. Tenten poured the family their tea before pouring her own. Thunder rumbled outside as Tenten glanced around the table. Chiyo looked at her grand daughter and sipped her tea while Kurenai and Asuma simply ate. Suddenly, Tenten couldn't bear the tension any longer. Slamming her teacup down on the table, the girl stood up angrily. "You shouldn't have to go!" she cried.

"Tenten!" exclaimed Kurenai in surprise.

"There are plenty of young men to fight for the Fire Country!"

"It is an honor to _**protect **_my country **_and_** my family," replied Asuma, his patience wearing thin.

"So you will _**die**_, for _**honor?"**_ demanded Tenten stamping her foot.

"I will **_die_** for doing what's **_right!_**" retorted the man, standing up to face his daughter.

"But if-"

_"I know my place!"_ yelled Asuma sternly. "It is time you learned yours!"

Asuma's words stabbed deep into Tenten's heart, making her run out of the house feeling hurt to the stone Kyuubi crying bitterly. She sat curled up at the base of the statue crying when it began to rain heavily, soaking her to the skin. After a few minutes, Tenten glanced over at a reflection of herself in a puddle before looking to see the shadows of her parents through the blinds. Asuma tried to reassure his wife but Kurenai simply turned away from. The man hung his head sadly as he blew out the candle.

Conflicting emotions arose inside her but after seeing how much her mother would sad if something were to happen to Asuma, Tenten knew what she had to do. Walking up to the family shrine, Tenten lighted a couple of joss sticks and placed them on the miniature Kyuubi altar and bowed in silent prayer. Konohamaru watched silently from the shadows before hopping after Tenten.

Tenten slowly and quietly crept into the house to her parents' room where she grabbed her father's scroll from his bedside table and replaced it with her golden earrings. She then went to the special room and walked towards the cupboard. Taking out the sword, Tenten released her hair buns and grabbed the end of it in one hand while the other grasped the katana and sliced through her long hair, cutting so that it ended at her shoulder blades instead of how it used to trail to her butt. Taking a strip of cloth, Tenten used it to tie her hair into a single bun on top of her head before she donned her father's uniform and grabbed his sword.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kankuro was busy eating some hay when his stable doors burst open to see an unfamiliar figure. Kankuro whinnied loudly as he reared up on his hind legs when the figure walked up to him was revealed to be Tenten. The girl stroked the horse's nose to calm him before putting Kankuro's reins and saddle on. Tenten led her horse out quietly but not before looking at her house for one last time before swinging herself onto Kankuro's back.

"HIYA!" cried Tenten as Kankuro kicked open the door and neighed loudly before galloping off with Tenten into the night.

* * *

At that moment, Chiyo awoke with a start when she sensed something was wrong. Looking into her granddaughter's empty room, her fears were confirmed.

"Tenten is gone!" yelled Chiyo, rushing into Asuma's and Kurenai's room, awaking them with a start.

"What?" exclaimed Asuma when he suddenly glanced down and saw Tenten's earrings where his scroll should be. "No...she couldn't have..."

Quickly, Asuma grabbed his crutches as hobbled into the special room and saw Tenten's locks of brown hair strewn on the floor before he threw open his cupboard. He gasped loudly when he found his armor and sword gone.

"TENTEN!" he cried, throwing down his crutches and hobbling out the house only to trip and fall on the muddy ground hard. "No..." he whispered as Asuma saw the front gates ajar.

Kurenai ran out into the rain to help her husband stand. "You must go after her! She could be killed!"

Asuma grabbed his wife's hand and squeezed it. "If I reveal her, she will be..." he said gravely much to Kurenai's despair.

Chiyo watched the grieving couple from the door before looking towards the sky. "Ancestors, hear our prayer, please watch over Tenten..." she prayed softly.

* * *

At that moment, the kanji characters on the 1st Ancestor's memorial began to glow brightly as silvery blue wisps began to shoot out from them and took the form of Sarutobi Hiruzen (The 3rd Hokage if you don't remember) as he sat on top his memorial with a staff materializing beside him. The ghost glanced over to the altar of the mini Kyuubi. _"Naruto...awaken!"_ he commanded as the altar began began to glow and come to life as it fell to the ground bouncing with a metallic clang. Ash from the altar's tray created a smoky effect on the floor.

_**"I LIIIIIIIIIIIIVVVE-DATTEBAYOOO!"**_ cried a puppy-sized Kyuubi as it emerged from the smoke like Frankenstein. Naruto glanced left and right , sniffing the air. "Yosha! So what mortal needs my protection Great Ancestor? You just say the word and I'm there!"

_"Naruto..._" said Hiruzen in an irritated voice.

"Now let me say something. Anyone who is foolish enough to threaten our family, vengeance will be MIIIIIINNE!" declared Naruto as he began snarling and growling like a wild animal.

Hiruzen rolled his eyes heavily. _"NARUTO!"_ he called in a loud voice making the fox flinch. "**_THESE_** _are the family guardians,"_ said Hiruzen gesturing to the small statues of the other tailed beasts. _"They..."_

Naruto frowned heavily and rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Protect the family-ttebayo..." he answered sourly.

_"And YOU, Oh Demoted One?"_

Naruto glanced over at a small gong at his feet in disdain. "I...ring the gong..."

_"That's right. Now, wake up the ancestors please."_

Naruto sighed as he picked up the gong and it's mallet. "One family reunion coming right up!" he said sarcastically as he began to ring the gong loudly. "Ok, people let's go! Look alive! Wake up! Wakey-wakey! Rise and shine!"

Immediately, the other memorials began to glow as the rest of the family awoke and sat on their memorials. _"I knew it! I KNEW IT! That Tenten was trouble-maker from the start!" _exclaimed Koharu loudly, jabbing her cane at Homura, who sat nest to her. _(They're the two old people who work for the Hokage)_

_"Well, don't look at me, she gets it from **your** side of the family!"_ retorted Homura.

_"She's** just** trying to help her father!"_defended old lady Sansho. _(From the Curry of Life arc)_

_"BUT, if she's discovered, Asuma will be forever shamed! Dishonor would come to the family! Traditional values will disintegrate!" _pointed out Ebisu anxiously.

_"Not to mention they'll lose the farm!"_ added in the Nidaime Hokage.

_"MY children never would have caused this trouble! They all became acupuncturists!"_ exclaimed Koharu standing up.

_"Well, we can't ALL become acupuncturists!"_ argued Homura.

_"Oh NO! Your great grand-daughter had to be cross-dresser!" _argued another.

Meanwhile, Naruto sat on the sidelines watching the ancestors argue loudly as he slurped instant ramen from a cup when one of the ancestors suggested to let a guardian bring her back. Homura immediately snatched up Naruto and his gong and held him up to the Ichibi statue. _"Awaken the most cunning!"_ he ordered when Naruto got snatched by Ebisu.

_"No! Send the swiftest!"_ he said holding Naruto up to the Nibi statue but he got snatched a third time by Koharu and was held up to the Hachibi.

_"No, send the wisest!"_

**_"SILENCE!"_** yelled Hiruzen loudly making her drop Naruto on the ground with a clang. _"We must send the most powerful of all-" _he said as he was about to gesture to the Kyuubi statue outside when Naruto laughed confidently and climbed on a pedestal.

"Ha-ha! Ok, ok, I get it, I'll go!" he said cheerfully, when everybody suddenly began laughing at the mini fox. "You don't think I can do it? Well watch this!" yelled Naruto as he opened his mouth and fired a small ball of red chakra. "Hah! How's that?"

_"You had your chance to protect the Sarutobi Family!" _pointed out Hiruzen sternly.

_"Your misguidance led Hashirama _(The Shodaime)_ to disaster!"_ added in Koharu.

_"Yeah, thanks a lot..."_ said Hashirama in bitter sarcasm who literally held his head in his hands.

"And your point is?" asked Naruto, unfazed by the matter.

_"THE POINT IS! We will be sending a REAL Kyuubi to fetch Tenten,"_ replied Hiruzen.

Naruto's jaw dropped open. "What? But _**I'm**_ a real Kyuubi-dattebayo!"

_"**You** are not worthy of this spot! Now awaken the great Stone Kyuubi!"_ordered Hiruzen, grabbing Naruto and throwing him out the door.

"So you'll get back to me on the job then?" asked Naruto hopefully only to replied with a gong thrown in his face. Hiruzen rubbed his temples irritably.

* * *

Naruto sulked heavily as he trudged down the staircase dragging the going behind him. "Jeez, one more chance is all I'm asking, just ONE chance...it's not like it'll kill them or anything..." he grumbled as he walked up to the Kyuubi statue. "Yo Rocky, wake up! You gotta go fetch Tenten!"

When Naruto got no response he moved to front and rung the gong again. "Come on boy! Go on! Go get her!" he urged and whistled as if it were a dog but still not even a twitch.

Naruto grabbed his gong and began scrambling up to the Kyuubi, growling at it until he reached the ear. "Hello? HEL-LOOOOO...?" he yelled directly into the Kyuubi's ear, smacking it with the gong. "HEL-WHOOPS!" went the little when he swung his gong a little to hard and accidentally broke the ear. Naruto gasped as grabbed the ear and held it in place. "Oh...shitz-ne..."

Suddenly, there was a loud cracking and the whole statue came crumbling down. Naruto coughed as he blew away the dust. He gasped when he found himself among the broken remains of the statue the the stone Kyuubi head lay in front of him. Naruto gulped as he poked the fox's head. "Um...moshi-mosh?...Oi, Kyuubi-sama...? Moshi-mosh?" called Naruto softly before bitng his lip and began jogging on the spot while wringing his hands nervously. "_Ohcrap-Ohcrap-Ohcrap-OhCRAP!_ They are _**SO**_ gonna kill me-ttebayo!"

_"Great Stone Kyuubi! Have you awakened?" _Naruto heard Hiruzen call from the shrine.

The bushes not to far from the shrine rustled as the stone Kyuubi's head popped up with Naruto holding up in front of his own head and fanned his tails out. **"Uh-um...YES! I-I-I JUST woke up! I am the Great Stone Kyuubi! OHAYO!"** replied Naruto deepening his voice and waving at the 1st Ancestor, who apparently did not notice the stone Kyuubi's 'small body'. **"I shall go forth and fetch Tenten! D-did I mention I was the Great Stone Kyuubi?"**

_"Go now! The fate of the Sarutobi Family rests in your claws!"_

**"Don't even worry about it! I will NOT lose faith!"** replied Naruto when he suddenly stumbled and rolled down the hill backwards with the statue head. **_THUD! SPLAT!_**Went the statue head as it landed hard on top of Naruto with his paws and tails sticking out and wriggling_. "It-t-tai...I can't feel my tails..."_were his muffled groans as the Naruto slowly pushed the fox head off him.

The little Kyuubi wrung one of his tails worriedly. "Aww crap, how am I gonna get out of this one now? I'm so **_SCREWED!_** And all because _Little Miss BUN-HEAD_ decided to take a little DRAG-SHOW on the ROAD!" he yelled in frustration beating the Kyuubi head with his paws repeatedly.

Suddenly Naruto heard a chirping and looked up to see Konohamaru on the Kyuubi head. _"Why don't you go get her yourself?" **(R.F: Starting from now you shall all get a translation on what Kankuro and Konohamaru are saying!)**_

"Go get her?" exclaimed Naruto, jumping to his feet as if the bug was crazy."After this big overgrown rocky Kyuubi mess I need to think of a way to get back in the temple!" he yelled in frustration when an idea struck him. "Wait that's it! If I can make Tenten a war hero and bring honor to the family those old geezers would practically PAY me to get back to work! That's the MASTER-PLAN! Oh I AM A GENIUS-DATTEBAYO!" cheered the fox running off past Konohamaru.

_"Hey! But that was my idea!"_protested Konohamaru hopping after the fox._ "I'm coming too!"_

"Oh no you're not!" argued Naruto pushing Konohamaru back. "Besides what can **you** do?"

_"I'm a Lucky Cricket!"_

Naruto screeched to a halt and looked at the bug skeptically. "You're Lucky? Yeah RIGHT!" he scoffed before running out the gate with the cricket still hopping after him. "Do I look like an idiot to you?"

_"Actually, yeah you do,"_ replied Konohamaru as they turned a corner.

Naruto's eye twitched in annoyance as he growled and chased the cricket angrily who kept turning around to mock him.

* * *

Meanwhile, high up in a rocky terrain in the mountains. Pein and the Akatsuki came riding through on some mean looking horses when they suddenly pulled to a stop. Pein signalled for Kisame, Itachi and Deidara to move ahead. The three dismounted and crept quietly into the fog with Kisame brandishing his sword and Itachi loading a long bow with an arrow. It wasn't long before a small scuffle was heard and two ninjas, Sora and Karashi (the monk from the Shippuden series and the dude from the Curry of Life arc respectively) were tossed in front of Pein who dismounted his horse. Sora tried to reach for his tekagi when Kisame held his sword by his neck, causing him to think otherwise.

"We found Konoha scouts, un!" said Deidara.

The two scouts shifted in fear as Pein stepped up to them and threw open his hood, revealing his face. "P-p-pein..." stammered Karashi, swallowing hard.

At that moment, Sasuke flew down and perched on Pein's shoulder as he knelt down in front of them. "Nice work gentlemen, you found the Akatsuki," he said mockingly, prompting the rest of the Akatsuki crew to snicker.

Sora, being the bolder one frowned. "The Lady Hokage will stop you!" he said, trying to put on a brave front.

"Stop me?" exclaimed Pein pretending to look surprised as Sasuke flew away. "She practically invited me!" he said smiling sinisterly as he suddenly grabbed Sora by the throat and lifted him high off the ground, causing the boy to start gasping for breath. "By building the Great Wall, Tsunade is challenging my strength! And I'm going to play her game..." said Pein as a black sharpened rod emerged from his sleeve and pointed it at Sora who was turning blue in the face.

"GO!" ordered Pein, throwing Sora suddenly to the ground as Karashi quickly scrambled after him. "Tell your Lady Hokage to send her strongest army! I'm ready for her!" he said as he watched the two run off. Pein scratched his chin a bit before he looked over to Itachi. "How many men does it take to deliver a message?"

Itachi made no emotion as he lifted his bow and arrow. "One," he replied simply, aiming at one of the two scouts.


	5. Make a Man out of me?

_**Make a Man out of me?

* * *

**_

Not to far off from the Eastern Border Camp in a bamboo forest. Kankuro leaned against a rock chewing a bamboo leaf looking extremely bored as he watched Tenten trying to 'act' like a man and to be honest, he thought she was terrible.

"Ok, how about this!" tried Tenten clearing her throat loudly before sticking out her chest and strutting forward. "Excuse me!" she said deepening her voice trying to sound relatively boyish. "Where do I sign up? Aha! I see you have a sword! I have one too!" Tenten patted the sword at her waist. "They're very manly and..tough!" she said as Tenten attempted to unsheathe her sword with some difficulty and she finally did, it slipped out of her hand and fell to the ground with a clang.

Poor Kankuro couldn't contain himself anymore as he burst out and threw himself on the ground rolling in laughter until an annoyed Tenten took off her shoe and threw it at the horse, hitting Kankuro's head with great precision. Kankuro snorted as rubbed his head with his hoof while Tenten stormed up to the horse and picked up her shoe.

"I'm WORKING ON IT!" she yelled in frustration stamping her foot as she slipped on her shoe. The girl then sighed heavily as she walked up to a clearing and pulled back a few branches to see the camp just downhill from where they were. "Who am I kidding? I won't last three seconds in that place. It'll take a miracle to get me into the army..."

_**"Did I hear someone ask for a miracle-ttebayo?"**_exclaimed a new voice making Tenten and Kankuro whip around to see a monstrous Nine-Tailed shadow on a rock wall with flames bursting out the sides. _**"Come on! Let me hear you say 'ARRRRRRGH!'"**_

"KYAAAAAAAAAA!" screamed Tenten as she and Kankuro dived behind a large rock in fright.

The shadow looked at Tenten and shrugged. _**"That's close enough!"**_

"A ghost!" exclaimed Tenten as she and her horse poked their heads out.

_**"Prepare yourself Tenten! Your nine-tailed Salvation has come! For I have been sent by your ancestors-"**_the Shadow began to announce when he looked down and saw Konohamaru making a shadow puppet of a nude lady and quickly kicked him away before the girl noticed. _**"To guide you, through your masquerade-dattebayo!"**_ he finished as Naruto ducked down and hand a leaf to Konohamaru. _"Come on, you're gonna stay, you're gonna _work!" he hissed in annoyance before getting up again as Konohamaru quickly fanned the fires they were using for effect.

**_"So heed my word, Tenten! If the army ever discovers you're a girl, the penalty is DEATH!"_**warned the shadow as the flames grew bigger.

"Who are you?"asked Tenten, standing up.

**_"Who am I? WHO am I?"_** exclaimed the shadow looking offended. _**"I am the Guardian of Lost Souls! I am the POWERFUL! The MOST AWESOME!" **_he began to say as started to step out with Tenten looking hopeful. "The incredible No.1 demon Fox, Naruto-dattebayo!" Naruto said finally revealing himself before the girl and her horse.

Tenten's face faulted heavily as she looked at Naruto incredulously.

"Haha, I'm pretty cool huh? **_ACK!"_** went Naruto when Kankuro suddenly jumped on him and began stomping him into the ground with his hooves.

_"Stupid little-You nearly scared the horse crap out of me!"_neighed Kankuro angrily to which only Naruto can understand.

Tenten quickly grabbed the horse's reins and pulled him away to reveal Naruto squashed like a pancake. The little fox coughed out a lot of dust and twitched in pain as he tried to peel himself of the ground.

"Um...my ancestors sent a little..._**puppy**_ to help me?" she asked skeptically as helped Naruto up and poked him only to have her hand smacked away by one of the fox's tails.

"HEY! For your information, I'm a Kyuubi no Kitsune, A _**KYUUBI! **_Not puppy, I don't bark-ttebayo..." Naruto said indignantly when he suddenly coughed loudly which came out like a puppy bark.

Tenten sweat-dropped as she rubbed the back of her neck while standing up. "Um...you're..."

"Intimidating? Awe-inspiring?" suggested the fox scrambling up some bamboo to be at eye-level with her.

"Tiny..." corrected Tenten making Naruto's face fault but he shrugged it off.

"Of course, I'm travel-sized for your convenience! If I was my REAL size, your cow here would die of fright!" exclaimed Naruto jumping on Tenten's shoulder to reach out and pat Kankuro's nose only to draw back his paw quickly when an annoyed Kankuro snapped at him. "Down boy!" scolded the fox before jumping onto another bamboo.

Kankuro narrowed his eyes. _"I'm gonna get you for that..."_

"My powers are beyond belief! For instance, my eyes can see STRAIGHT through your armor! **ITAI!"**he explained when Tenten suddenly felt offended and covered her chest while slapping the fox so hard he hit the ground with a thud by Konohamaru's feet. The cricket quickly pushed the fox back up as Naruto began to throw a tantrum. "OK, you know what? DISHONOR! Dishonor on your whole family-dattebayo! Make a note of this Konohamaru!" yelled Naruto as he gestured to the cricket who quickly picked up a leaf and a charcoal stick and began to write. "Dishonor on YOU! Dishonor on your COW! Dis-"

"Ok, STOP! I get it!" yelled Tenten holding the fox's muzzle shut before releasing it. "Gomen, gomen, I'm just so nervous, I've never done this before..."

"Nooo..., really?" said Naruto sarcastically. "Then you're gonna have to **_trust _**me! And don't you slap me no more!"

Tenten quickly nodded. Naruto smiled at the girl before turning to his cricket companion. "Then let's get this show on the road! Konohamaru, get the bags! Let's move it Cow!" he said making Kankuro snort and frown at the fox.

* * *

It wasn't long before the group were right outside the gates. Tenten looked in nervously and gulped. Naruto poked his head out of the satchel she was carrying. "OK, time to do your manly walk! Shoulders back, chest out, feet apart and strut!" commanded Naruto as Tenten began to walk looking more ridiculous rather than manly as everyone stared after her.

After a while, Tenten gave up on the walk as she walked by a tent where a couple of guys were hanging out. _"Beautiful, ain't it?" _whispered Naruto.

_"They're disgusting!"_she replied, wrinkling her face in disgust as Tenten spotted one picking his nose while another was using chopsticks to pick dirt from between his toes.

_"No, they're men. And you're gonna have to act like them so pay attention!"_ said Naruto when Tenten suddenly stopped as she saw a random guy open his shirt to reveal a dragon tattoo to a couple of boys her age. One of them was around Tenten's height and had a bowl haircut and and bushy eyebrows while the other was slightly taller, brown spiky hair, slitted eyes, and red fang tattoos on his cheeks.

"This tattoo is guaranteed to protect me from harm!" boasted the man.

The brown haired boy and Bushy-brows exchanged sneaky glances with each other. Suddenly, the brown haired punched the guy hard in the stomach, knocking him out. Lee laughed out loudly in amusement. "I hope you get your money back! Everyone knows only the Power of Youth can ensure you survival!" exclaimed Bushy-Brows.

Tenten bit her lip. "I don't think I can do this..."

_"It's all attitude! You gotta be tough like Fang-Face here!"_replied Naruto as the said person suddenly spat at the ground much to Tenten's disgust.

"What are you looking at?" snapped the boy when he caught Tenten staring at him.

_"Punch him, it's how men say hello!"_urged Naruto.

Balling her hand into a fist, Tenten gave a hard punch to the back of the guy's head making him bounce against the stomach of a large, robust figured boy with long spiky brown hair eating a bag of potato chips.

"Oh Kiba, you made a new friend, how nice," commented the boy, munching on his chips.

_"Good, now slap his ass!" _whispered Naruto._  
_

Tenten widened her eyes at the fox and blushed, looking incredulously at Naruto._"What? No!"_ she hissed.

_"Ok...then let dis-"_

_"Alright, alright! I get it!"_** WHAP!** Went Tenten's hand making Kiba jump.

"WHOA! Watch it!" growled Kiba as he grabbed the front of Tenten's shirt. The girl blushed, silently praying that he won't notice the slighty padded vest she wore under her uniform to hide her breasts and slender figure. "No one slaps my ass unless I say so!" growled Kiba getting ready to punch Tenten when Choji pulled the back of the boy's shirt and held him slightly off the ground.

"Let me go Choji! Let me at' im!" yelled a struggling Kiba.

"Calm down, Kiba! Remember your anger management song...Come on, sing with me! _**I feel happy! All so happy! I feel happy and I'm filled with JOY!"**_

Kiba grumbled loudly, going red in the face. _"I feel happy, all so happy, I feel happy and I'm filled with joy..."_ he muttered lamely in a monotone voice but it seemed to have effectively calmed him down.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah..." replied Kiba still a little grouchy. "This guy ain't worth my time anyway...Sissy-Boy..."

Tenten heaved a sigh of relief and was about to walk away when Naruto yelled "Sissy-Boy? Say that to my face Jerk-Off!"

That did it. Kiba came running at Tenten to deliver a punch to the face when she quickly ducked in time. Lee, however who was standing right behind her got socked right in the face.

"Oops, sorry Lee..."

Lee rubbed his face as he looked at Kiba with fire in his eyes. "YOSHA! KIBA I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE TO A YOUTHFUL EXCHANGE OF FISTS!" he yelled giving Kiba a spinning kick, causing the guy to go spiraling into Choji who was about to eat the last chip in the bag when it got knocked out of his hands and broke on the ground.

"THE LAST CHIP! YOU MONSTERS!" screamed Choji as he joined in the fight between Kiba and Lee.

Meanwhile, Tenten had crawled away and was almost home-free when Lee spotted her. "OH YOUTHFUL NEWBIE! COME AND BE A PART OF OUR YOUTHFUL FIGHT!" he cried as he gave chase followed by Kiba and Choji.

"Oh hell no..." groaned Tenten as she ran into a nearby tent. The guys followed her and ran out the other end unaware that they had just missed her.

Suddenly the three saw a lunch line up ahead. Lee and Kiba managed to stop in time but Choji barreled through, knocking everyone over like dominoes. It wasn't long before Tenten found herself the target of many angry men.

* * *

At that moment Mizuki walked into a large tent where Hiashi was explaining a battle plan to a young man in front of him who also had pearl white pupils.

"The Akatsuki have struck here, here and here," he explained pointing out certain areas on a map. "I will lead the main troops to the Valley of the End where we shall ambush them. We will NOT let them reach Konoha!"

"Excellent strategy, Lord Hiashi! I do _**love**_ surprises!" complimented Mizuki in an attempt to joke but was replied with blank stares.

Hiashi turned to the young man in front of him. "Neji, you will stay and train the new recruits. When Mizuki thinks your ready, you will join us,_ Captain_,"he said picking up a katana and handing it to the young man.

Neji took the sword and looked at it in awe. Mizuki on the other hand, in disbelief. "Captain? But-but-but... this is an ENORMOUS responsibility Lord Hiashi! Perhaps someone a little more...experienced?..." suggested Mizuki gesturing subtly to himself, hoping Hiashi would get his drift.

"No.1 student in his class, a vast extensive knowledge of training techniques..." listed Hiashi before averting his eyes and smiling inwardly. "An impressive military lineage...I say Neji's more than qualified for the job."

"Thank you, Lord Hiashi," said Neji calmly as he tried to suppress his excitement while Mizuki's face faulted in disappointment.

Hiashi smiled as he tied on his Konoha headband and grabbed his Anbu mask (An eagle) before standing up. "Very good then, we shall toast our victory at Konoha," he said before turning to Mizuki who held open the tent cover. "I'll expect a full report in three weeks, Mizuki."

"Hai, Lord Hyuuga," replied Mizuki cheerfully before casting Neji a dirty look. "I'll make sure not to leave **_anything_** out," he said directing it more at Neji than Hiashi before walking out.

Neji appeared a bit taken aback but shrugged it off as he tied on his new katana. "Hmm...Captain Neji...I like it..." he muttered smiling to himself as he stepped outside to find a huge riot going on outside.

One beat guy staggered up and saluted the three men before collapsing at their feet. "Most impressive..." commented Mizuki in a blunt sarcastic tone.

Hiashi shook his head before stepping over the guy and jumping on a white horse, slipping on his mask. "Good luck, Captain!" he said before prompting his horse to gallop followed by other Anbu members who galloped after them on their own horses.

"Good Luck...Uncle..." said Neji softly before bowing his head to avoid a flying shoe, hitting Mizuki in the face.

Mizuki made no emotion as the shoe slid off his face leaving a red shoe print. "Day one..." he told Neji.

The young man sighed heavily as he took a step forward towards the riot. "SOLDIERS!" he yelled making everyone stop.

Kiba gave the guy he had in a head lock a final punch before everyone backed away to reveal Tenten curled up on the ground trying to avoid the fight. "HE STARTED IT!" accused everyone in unison jabbing their fingers at Tenten.

The girl peeked out to see Neji looking down at her slowly, making her quickly stand up and dust herself. _'This is NOT my day...'_she groaned in her head while Naruto kept still in her satchel.

"I don't want anyone causing trouble in my camp," said Neji in a cold voice staring hard at Tenten, making her nervous.

"Gomenasai...uh um , _**Gomen, gomen, Captain!**_" said Tenten making her voice deeper. "I just thought it be nice to make friends with a few youthful fist fights! Right?" she said looking at Lee who gave her a shiny grin.

"What's your name?..." demanded Neji, catching Tenten off guard.

Tenten swallowed as she began to panic. _'Crap, I haven't thought of that yet!_'

"You're commanding officer just asked you a question!" said Mizuki sternly. "Or do you not have a name?"

"Uh...I've definitely got a name! A real boy's name! A manly one!" said Tenten hurriedly, though sounding completely ridiculous as she tried to think of a name.

_"I know, how about Lee?" _suggested Naruto in a whisper loud enough for Tenten.

"_**His**_ name is Lee..." muttered Tenten gesturing to the said person.

"I didn't ask for **_his_** name I asked for yours!" demanded Neji once more.

_"Uh...how...about Pikachu!"_

"Pikachu!" said Tenten quickly.

"Pikachu?" echoed Neji incredulously.

_"I Choose You!"_ joked Naruto chuckling to himself.

_"Naruto..."_growled Tenten in annoyance.

"Naruto?" questioned the Captain already beginning to lose his patience.

"NO!"

"THEN WHAT IS IT?"

_"Ten..MARU! Tenmaru, go for it!"_ Naruto finally said.

"It's Tenmaru," said Tenten sighing slowly.

"Tenmaru?"

_"On second thought...that name kinda su-OMPH!" _Naruto was about to say when Tenten clamped his muzzle tightly in annoyance. "Yes, my name is Tenmaru," said Tenten firmly.

Neji eyed 'Tenmaru' before holding out his hand. "Let me see your conscription notice!" he ordered.

Tenten quickly reached into her satchel and pulled out Asuma's scroll before handing it to Neji, who unrolled it with Mizuki looking over his shoulder.

"**_Sarutobi_**...Sarutobi Asuma?" exclaimed Neji in surprise.

"I didn't know Asuma had a son!" exclaimed Mizuki as well.

Tenten averted her eyes a little. "Uh..he doesn't talk about me much! Heh-heh!" Tenten lied while trying to act manly by spitting only to fail when the spit just hung from her mouth.

Neji and Mizuki looked at the 'boy' strangely. _"I can see why. The boy's an absolute nut-cake!"_ whispered Mizuki to Neji.

Kiba, Lee and Choji who were standing nearby heard this and laughed to themselves but quickly stopped when Neji began to walk forward. "Alright soldiers!" he said. "Thanks to your new friend, Tenmaru! You will all be spending tonight picking **every, single, grain, of rice!** And tomorrow, the real work begins!" he commanded walking away leaving everyone glaring at Tenten.

Naruto popped his head out and looked at Tenten clicking his tongue. _"We're gonna have to work on your people skills!"_ he whispered bluntly to Tenten who glared at him before grabbing the fox by his scruff and shoving him back into the satchel roughly.

That night, Tenten, after setting up her tent sloppily and tying Kankuro to the tree next to it, the poor girl went to bed feeling extremely tired and miserable.

* * *

The next morning, while Tenten and Konohamaru were still sleeping soundly, Naruto grabbed the cricket and began twisting his wings like a wind-up toy. This caused Konohamaru to start ringing like an alarm clock waking Tenten up with a start.

"COME ON! RISE AND SHINE SLEEPING BEAUTY! COME ON UP, UP , UP!" yelled Naruto loudly while rapping Tenten's head.

"Urusai..." she muttered grumpily before pulling the blanket over her head.

Naruto frowned and pulled the blanket off Tenten, revealing the girl to be wearing nothing but her vest and shorts. "Come ON! I got breakfast!" said Naruto as the girl yawned loudly and sat up sleepily as the fox jumped on her lap and held a bowl of ramen with a smiley face made of fishcakes for eyes and a leek piece for a mouth in front of her face."Look, you got RAMEN! And It's HAPPY TO SEE YOU-DATTEBAYO!"

Suddenly, Konohamaru's head popped out of the noodles, licking his face.

"Hey get out of there! You're gonna make people sick!" yelled Naruto grabbing the cricket with his chopsticks and tossing him out.

"Ugh...What time is it?..." asked Tenten groggily when Naruto started shoving noodle pieces in her mouth.

"No time to talk! Today's first day of training! Ya' gotta pay attention and play nice with the other kids and no fighting! Unless one of them picks a fight, then you gotta kick the other kid's butt!" instructed Naruto continuing to shovel ramen in the girl's mouth.

_"But I don't wanna kick the other kid's butt!"_ protested Tenten with her mouth full and ramen noodles spilling from her mouth.

"Don't talk with your mouth full! Now let's see your war face-ttebayo!" commanded Naruto, only to be replied with Tenten staring at him blankly with her full face. "Now you just look stupid... COME ON SCARE ME!"

"GRRRRRRR!" growled Tenten fiercely after swallowing the remaining noodles, knocking the fox on his back.

"YEAH! That's what I'm talking about! Now get out there and make me proud!" said Naruto quickly tying up Tenten's hair into a bun when Kankuro suddenly poked his head in.

_"Hey get a move on! The other troops just left!"_ he neighed.

"What? What do you mean the troops just left-dattebayo?" demanded Naruto as Tenten was slipping on her martial arts uniform when she popped her eyes open.

"THEY WHAT?" she exclaimed as Tenten quickly tied on her belt and wore her shoes before running off suddenly, causing her sloppily made tent to collapse.

"Wait you forgot your sword!" yelled Naruto before smiling after the girl while Konohamaru hopped on his head. "My little Ten-chan is all grown up and learning how to kick ass...I'm so proud of her~!" he exclaimed tearfully while Konohamaru and Kankuro rolled their eyes at each other.

* * *

Meanwhile at the training grounds, the guys were fooling around when Mizuki came out. "ORDER! EVERYONE ORDER!" he yelled.

"I'd like a bowl of Fox Udon!" yelled one guy jokingly making everyone laugh.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh! Some Korean BBQ would be nice!" said Choji taking it seriously when Kiba tapped the guy's belly and explained to him the joke much to Choji's disappointment.

Mizuki frowned heavily as everyone began laughing and mocking him. "It's not funny..." he muttered walking away.

Suddenly Lee spotted Tenten running up. "Youthful new comrade! You are almost late! You should have awoken with the YOUTHFUL MORNING SUN!" exclaimed Lee loudly.

Tenten looked down at her feet and avoided looking at everyone else who was giving her the stink eye as she took her place by Lee and Kiba, who turned to her. "Hey **Tenmaru**! Are ya' hungry?" greeted Kiba placing an arm around Tenten in a friendly manner before suddenly holding her in a headlock. "Cuz' I owe you a knuckle sandwich!" he growled about to punch Tenten who shielded her face.

"SOLDIERS!" called Neji walking up to the group, prompting everyone to line up, thus, saving Tenten from a black eye. All Neji wore was a pair of black training pants and shoes with a vest over his shoulders, his long brown hair was tied up in a ponytail. "You will assemble swiftly and silently every morning!" he began to instruct as he took off his vest revealing his muscular upper torso. Tenten widened her eyes and blushed as her mouth formed a small 'O'.

"Anyone who acts otherwise," continued Neji grabbing a kunai and walking the whole length of the line. "Will answer to me!" he finished.

"Ooooh...tough guy..." muttered Kiba loudly.

"Kiba," called Neji who overheard him. Everyone quickly took a step back, singling the guy out. Neji quickly twirled the kunai in his hand and threw it hard, where it embedded itself at the top of a very tall, thick wooden post. "Thank you for volunteering. Retrieve the arrow!"

Kiba's eye twitched as he forced himself to bow slightly. _"I'll get that arrow White-Eyes...and I'll do it with my shirt, ON!"_ he muttered under his breath as Kiba walked up to the post. Just as he was about to, he was stopped by Neji.

"One moment, you seem to be forgetting something," said Neji much to Kiba's annoyance as Mizuki walked up carrying a case with some difficulty. Neji opened it to reveal a pair of stone weights. "This represents discipline!" he explained lifting Kiba's left hand with one of them before dropping the weight, causing Kiba's arm to be weighed down. He then attached the other to Kiba's right, lifting the guy off the ground with the weight easily, making Kiba widen his eyes in bewilderment. "And this, represents strength!" said Neji promptly dropping Kiba who fell to the ground with a splat, much to the amusement of the others.

"You need _**both**_ to reach the kunai!"

Kiba looked at the weights in his hands before looking up at the kunai, finally realizing how high it is. Wanting to save face, Kiba immediately began scrambling up the post. When he was some distance off the ground, the weights began to drag him downwards. Kiba tried digging his teeth into the post only to still get dragged down, this time with wooden shavings in his mouth. When he failed, the others began to try their luck.

Lee managed to get much higher than Kiba, but he threw out his arms to cheer about youth when the weights caused Lee to flop upside down hitting his head hard against the post as he continued falling in that fashion to the ground. When Choji tried, he fell so hard the post actually uprooted itself and landed back in the hole. Tenten went next but failed miserably as she fell hard on her butt. The girl slowly got up and rubbed her sore spot as she walked past an exasperated Neji who rubbed his neck.

"We've got a looong way to go..." he muttered grabbing some bamboo staffs and tossing them to the recruits. Everyone managed to catch theirs easily except for Tenten who had hers snatched out of the air by Kiba who used it to trip her before dropping it by her feet trying to look innocent.

Chinese drums began to play as Neji grabbed his own staff and took a stance. **_"Let's get down to business!"_** he sang tossing two clay vases into the air using his staff and brandishing it expertly, much to the amazement of the recruits, breaking the vases before they hit the ground. **_" To defeat the Akatsuki!"_**

"HOAH!" yelled the recruits taking their stances when as a joke Lee dropped a beetle down Tenten's back.

_**Neji:**_  
_**Did they send me daughters when I asked for sons?**_

Tenten immediately felt the beetle squirming as she involuntarily began to wriggle violently, accidentally taking down everyone else. Naruto and Konohamaru who were watching from afar slapped their foreheads in exasperation.

Neji frowned as he vaulted over the others with his pole to where Tenten was and quickly blocked a blow to the stomach and ducked another swipe.**_ "You're the saddest bunch I've ever met, but you can bet before __we're through.."_** he sang before grabbing Tenten's staff and glaring at her, making Tenten cringe while elsewhere, Konohamaru was doing his best grabbing on to Naruto's tails to prevent the fox from trying run out and attack the captain. **_"Mister, I'll make a man out of you!..."_**

* * *

The next form of training required everyone to lanch tomatoes into the air and pin them to drawn targets on a tree using kunai or shuriken. Neji demonstrated by pinning three tomatoes with three thrown shuriken, hitting the targets perfectly. When everyone else tried they either missed their target due to bad timing or they threw their projectiles wrongly. Naruto tried to help Tenten cheat by stabbing one of her kunai with the tomato but Neji caught her and glared. Tenten could do nothing but force a grin at the captain.

**_Neji:_**

_**Tranquil as a forest**_,  
_**But on fire within!**_

* * *

Later, the troops were brought up to a cliff's edge where Neji made everyone throw stones at him as he balanced a bucket of water on his head. The recruits pelted the guy hard with stones, but Neji easily deflected them with his staff with even spilling a drop of water.

_**Once you find your center,**_  
_**You are sure to w****in!**_

When Tenten was made to do it, not only did she had trouble balancing the bucket, she flinched when everyone threw stones at her, causing the bucket to splash and upturn on her head. Tenten wildly swung her staff, deflecting one stone which came flying at Neji but he shifted to the side so the stone smacked Choji square on the forehead, knocking him out. Neji furrowed his brows while Tenten meekly peeked out from under the bucket.

* * *

_**"You're a spineless, pale pathetic lot, and you haven't got a clue. Somehow I'll make a man out of you!" **_sang Neji while the group was training to catch fish in the river with a single swipe. Kiba and Tenten tried to copy Neji after watching him, but Tenten accidentally caught Kiba's foot instead and pulled him under water. Tenten grinned sheepishly when Naruto popped his head out of the water and held out a fish for Tenten.

* * *

During night time, Kiba and Choji were paired up to run through a field where blazing arrows were fired all over the place.

**_Choji: I'm never gonna catch my breath!_** (Narrowly dodges an arrow by a hair.)

**_Kiba: Say goodbye to those who knew me!_** (Trips and gets shot in the butt by a flaming arrow, making him jumping into the air yowling in pain).

* * *

_**Lee: Boy, was I a fool for cutting GYM!**_ (Tries to break a large cinder-block with forehead by crying about Youth only to knock himself out as blood gushed from his head like fountain)

* * *

**(Taijutsu practice with Tenten against Neji)  
**

**_Naruto: This guy's got'im scared to death!_**

**_Tenten: Hope he doesn't see right through me! _**(Weakly blocks a palm thrust from Neji, causing her to slam into a tree with a black eye, half-consious. Naruto tried to wake her up by splashing water on her face and pushing her out again.)

* * *

**_"Now I really wish I knew how to swim!"_** sang Choji during a training excercise where they were required to hop over a line of wooden posts but because he hesitated everyone collided into each other and fell into the ocean.

* * *

**(Bombing Pein practice)**

Everyone tried firing canons at a scarecrow of Pein albeit unsuccessfully. Tenten already had her target locked on but Lee accidentally knocked her canon off course causing it to go firing at Mizuki's tent just as the said person was walking out of it. A scorched Mizuki narrowed his eyes as he scribbled on his notepad furiously.**  
**

**_Guys: Be a Man!_**

**_Neji: You must be swift as the coursing river! _**

_**Guys: Be a man!**_

_**Neji: With all the force of a great typhoon!**_

_**Guys: Be a man!**_

_**Neji:**__**With all the strength of a raging fire**_  
_**  
"Mysterious as the dark side of the moon...!**_" sang Neji as he looked at the kunai from the first practice still embedded in the post and sighed hopelessly as he sat on a rocky edge.

* * *

Early next morning when the troops were doing stamina training by carrying weights and jogging up the mountain, Mizuki riding a horse at the front of the line with Neji tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to Tenten who lagged all the way behind and collapsed due to fatigue.

_**Neji:**_

_**Time is racing toward us**_  
_**Till the huns arrive.**_

Naruto tried to help the girl up but quickly hid when Neji approached them. Tenten quickly tried to pick up her weights but Neji snatched them from her and carried them along with his own as he rushed to catch up with the rest leaving Tenten looking dejected.

_**Heed my every order**_  
_**And you might survive.

* * *

**_

_**(Later that night, when Tenten got called out to the training spot)  
**_

_**"You're unsuited for the rage of war, So pack up, go home you're through!"**_ sang Neji frustrated while leading Kankuro and handing his reins to Tenten before walking away. **_"How __could I, make a man, out of you?"_**

Tenten hung her head as she was about to leave with Kankuro when she turned and looked at the kunai up high on the post. Wanting to give it a final try, Tenten sent kankuro back to her tent before returning and picked up the weights lying at the base, tied it firmly to her wrists and jumped on to the post only to lose her grip. Tenten looked at the kunai in frustration when an idea struck her as she looked at the weights.

**_Guys: BE A MAN!_**

(As the sun began to rise,Tenten gripped the weights tightly as she threw them around the post so that they twirled around each other tightly and held in place. Tenten tested them by pulling before beginning to climb, this time with ease as the weights allowed her to grip the post tightly.)**_  
_**

**_Neji: We must be swift as a coursing river..._**

**_Guys: BE A MAN!_**

(At that moment, the others had woken up and looked up in amazement to see Tenten already getting close to the top.)

**_Neji: With all the force of a great typhoon_**...

**_Guys: BE A MAN!_**

(Tenten almost slipped but quickly regained herself as she pulled herself up some more with the guys below shouting words of encouragement while Lee kept shouting "Let the Youth be with you Tenmaru!")

**_Neji:_**

**_With all the strength of a raging fire_**,  
**_Mysterious as the dark side of the moon!_**

Just as Neji emerged from his tent to see what the commotion was about when the kunai suddenly flew down and struck the ground by his feet. He looked up in amazement to see Tenten sitting on the very top of the post and looking down at him smiling with everyone else below cheering loudly. After Tenten's success, everyone became more motivated to train.

* * *

**(Target practice: Everyone successfully pinned their tomatoes to the tree with their kunai with Tenten becoming the top student of the class.)**

**_Everyone: BE A MAN!_**

**_Neji: We must be swift as a coursing river!

* * *

_**

**_(Stamina training and Taijutsu practice: Not only was everyone able to keep up, Tenten ran ahead the fastest and was actually able to kick Neji's ass in taijutsu training.)  
_**

**_Everyone: BE A MAN!_**

**_Neji: With all the force of a great typhoon!_**

* * *

**_(Water Walking: Instead of hesitating like before, Choji confidently flipped and hopped onto each posts ahead of everyone else.)_**

**_Everyone: BE A MAN!_**

**_Neji: With all the strength of a raging fire!_****_

* * *

_**

**_(Other training: When Neji threw the staffs to the others, Tenten frowned as Kiba caught hers once more, but this time he smiled and handed to her nicely while they began their training. Lee became the top student in taijutsu and was able to break the largest cinder-block they had with his forehead easily. Tenten caught the most fish during the river training in one swipe. Kiba succeeded in running swiftly through the flaming arrow field unscathed while everyone else hit the Pein scarecrow accurately all at once with their rockets.)_**

**_Everyone plus Neji: Mysterious as the dark side of the MOOOOOOOONNN!..._**

**_"HOOO-AH!" _**cried everyone as they jumped into the air brandishing their staffs fiercely.

* * *

Elsewhere in the mountains, there was a loud slashing sound as the top of a pine tree fell to the ground revealing Pein. At a distance, Sasuke screeched and flew towards Pein dropping something in his palm. Pein looked in his hand to see a small rag doll, he took a quick sniff of it before widened his eyes in realization. He quickly leaped of the tree and landed on the ground loudly where the Akatsuki members waited.

"What do you see?" asked Pein tossing the doll to Kisame.

The shark-man caught the doll with both hands and rubbed the residue it left on one of them. "Black Pine...from the high mountains!" he said before Itachi took it from him and plucked a short white hair from it.

"White horse hair, Imperial Stallions," he analyzed after looking at it closely before Deidara took it from him and sniffed it.

"Sulfur...from cannons," he noted before handing the doll back to Pein.

"This doll came from a village near the Valley of the end where the Hokage's troops are waiting," concluded Pein looking towards the mountains.

Deidara scoffed loudly. "Please! If that's the case, we can avoid them easily, un!"

Pein shook his head before gripping the doll. "No. The quickest way to the Hokage is through that valley and besides, a little girl must be terribly missing her doll. We should return to her..." he said smirking evilly.


	6. Setting Out to war

_**Setting out to war...

* * *

**_

Later that night after the troops finally completed their training, Tenten decided it was time for a well earned bath considering she hadn't had one in weeks. Quickly getting her towel and a fresh new uniform, Tenten stole out to a nearby lake riding Kankuro followed by Naruto and Konohamaru.

When they got there, Tenten disappeared into the tall grass near a tree while Naruto and Konohamaru stayed with Kankuro who chewed some grass. Naruto paced about worriedly while Tenten began to remove her clothes and hung them on a low branch.

"This is ridiculous, what if somebody sees you?" pointed out Naruto.

"Look, just because I have to look like a guy it doesn't mean I have to smell like one," retorted Tenten as she removed her hair tie and shook her hair loose before placing the hair tie in her shirt pocket.

"Ok so a couple of guys don't wash their pits after training, big deal!" exclaimed Naruto quickly folding his tails over his eyes as Tenten quickly ran out and jumped into the water, splashing all over the fox.

"Aah...kimochi..." sighed Tenten happily as she poked her head out of the cool water and ran her fingers through her hair. Naruto quickly shook his fur dry and grabbed a small hand towel before closing his eyes again.

"Ok, ok, your clean! Happy now? Now let's go before we get seen-ttebayo!"

Tenten sighed heavily as she grabbed the hand towel from Naruto and used it to clean her face. "Naruto, if your so worried, then go stand guard," she said before swimming off.

Naruto frowned before walking to where Konohamaru was grumpily. "Yeah, yeah..._Stand guard Naruto, while I blow my cover with my stupid girly habits!"_he said in a high squeaky voice to make fun of Tenten. "Hmph! Hygiene..." the fox scoffed when suddenly Lee, Choji and Kiba raced past him, throwing off their clothes as they ran to the water.

Naruto widened his eyes and gasped when he realized what this meant. "OH CRAP! They're gonna see Tenten's boobs! And I didn't even get a peek yet!" exclaimed the fox to Konohamaru as he quickly followed the guys.

Tenten's eyes popped wide open when she heard the guys and turned her head to see Kiba and Lee cannonball into the water. Suddenly Choji did a cannonball as well creating a large wave which floated a large lily pad towards Tenten who grabbed it in a panic and tried to use it as camouflage before she got noticed. Unfortunately, luck was not on her side when Kiba spotted the moving lily pad.

"Hey Tenmaru!" he called cheerfully causing Tenten to flinch. The girl had no choice but to respond.

"Oh, hi guys! I didn't know you were here!" she exclaimed smoothing out the lily pad on the water while forcing a grin and hanging her hand towel around her neck to shield her cleavage. "I was just taking a bath so now I'm clean and I gotta go, Ja NE!" she said hurriedly ducking behind a rock praying they would ignore her.

"Wait, come back youthful comrade!" exclaimed Lee swimming up to Tenten much to her dismay. "I apologize if we were unpleasant to you before so let's re- acquaint ourselves. Hi, I'm Rock Lee!" he said cheerfully shaking Tenten's hand while the girl subtly crossed her arm across her chest to hide her breasts, praying that they wouldn't notice. She forced another grin at Lee as she pulled her hand free only to have it smack into Choji's man-boob.

"I'm Akimichi Choji, please to meet you!" greeted Choji politely.

"Hello, Choji..." replied Tenten through her teeth while she inwardly shuddered.

"And I am Inuzuka Kiba! King of the Rock!" announced Kiba climbing out of the water onto the rock and standing over the three in his full glory. "And there's nothing you _girls_ can do about it!"

Poor Tenten's face became bright red as she quickly averted her gaze somewhere else. Her heart almost stopped beating when Kiba mentioned 'girls'. She quickly turned her head in the opposite direction when Lee suddenly stood revealing _**his**_ junk. _'Kami-sama, just let me die!_' she cried out in her head.

"Don't be overconfident Kiba! I believe Tenmaru and I can take you!" exclaimed Lee doing a fighting stance.

"I don't wanna take him anywhere..." said Tenten shifting away but Lee followed closely behind.

"But it's a youthful challenge! We have to fight!" protested Lee.

"No, we don't," replied Tenten nervously. "We can just close our eyes and swim around!" she suggested when Lee suddenly grabbed her arm, causing her to panic as she tried to wrench herself free.

"Oh come now, Tenmaru! Where's your sense of You-YEOW! Something bit me!" exclaimed Lee jumping in pain as he rubbed his butt.

Tenten looked down to see Naruto's head popping out of the water coughing and spluttering. "MAN! That tasted NASTY!"

Lee's eyes popped wide open when he saw Naruto. "KAPPA!" he screamed running to the rock where the others were, sending them into a panic as they all tried to scramble up the rock.

"HORA! I'm A KYUUBI-TTEBAYO!"yelled Naruto in annoyance but was quickly grabbed by Tenten who whistled for Kankuro.

The horse quickly grabbed Tenten's towel and ran into the water using his body as a cover while the girl dropped a spitting Naruto on the ground and quickly wrapped herself up in the towel.

Meanwhile the three guys sat on the rock afraid to go back in the water.

"Some King of the Rock..."muttered Lee only to get shoved in the water by Kiba.

"You know, Tenmaru seemed to acting stranger than usual," noted Choji as Lee appeared from the water spluttering. Kiba nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, and he actually smelled different, almost like...a girl...you don't think...?" suggested Kiba turning to the other guys.

"NAH!" said the three guys in unison laughing and shaking their heads.

* * *

"That was way too close,"said Tenten sighing in relief as she quickly wore her clothes.

"No, that was way too NASTY! You owe me BIG TIME!" snapped the fox as he removed a tube of toothpaste and a tooth brush from one of his tails. Naruto quickly squeezed the whole tube in his mouth and began to brush furiously to get the taste of butt off his tongue.

"I don't ever want to see another naked man for as long as I live," declared Tenten as she emerged from the tall grass wearing her clothes when suddenly the rest of her troop mates came running past her naked. The girl's eyes popped wide open as she got a full view of the many things just streaked past her.

Kankuro shook his head in disgust and snorted.

Naruto looked up at Tenten with a dead panned face. "Don't look at me, I am _**NOT**_ biting anymore butts..." he declared flatly before walking off followed by the rest towards the campsite.

Just as Tenten finished tying up her hair, she heard Mizuki and Neji arguing in a nearby tent. Naruto and Konohamaru looked at each and quickly creeped up to listen in better.

* * *

"You think your troops are ready to fight against the Akatsuki? HAH! They won't even last a minute against them!" scoffed Mizuki ignorantly.

Neji's eye twitched subtly as he tried to contain his anger but his clenched fists say otherwise. "They have completed their training with flying colors Mizuki," he replied calmly.

"Those _**boys**_ are no fit to soldiers as you are to be **_captain!"_**sneered Mizuki making Neji's eyes narrow angrily.

"My being Captain was my Uncle's decision Mizuki and **_you _**know it!"

"Oh please! I have **ten times** the military experience than you, Boy! You only got the position because of your family! Once I send in my report, your troops will never see the light of any battle!"

* * *

Naruto snarled angrily at Mizuki's words._ "Oh no you don't, douchebag! I've worked too hard for this to let you ruin it!" _he growled softly outside the tent. Konohamaru nodded vigorously in agreement.

* * *

"You're not being fair at all, Mizuki! They're ready and you know it!" argued Neji, his anger beginning to seep out.

"The only thing _**they**_ are ready for is **suicide!** Let me remind you that while **you **are Lord Hiashi's **nephew, I** am the Hokage's **counsel," **Mizuki reminded smirking mockingly at Neji. "And for the record, **_I _**got that job on my **_own. _**You're dismissed, **_Captain..."_** he said opening the tent flap for Neji, who glared daggers at him before leaving.

Tenten tried to look at Neji cheerfully. "Hey, if it helps, I'll hold him and you punch! Heh-heh!" she joked but soon dropped her smile when Neji ignored and walked past her. "Or not..."

"But you know what? Mizuki's a Jack-Ass! I think your Uncle chose the best Captain this troop can and will ever have!" she yelled after him.

Neji paused and glanced at Tenten in surprise before turning and walking away, a small smirk creeping on his face. Naruto looked at Neji before glancing over to see a small blush and dreamy look on Tenten's face. "I saw that," he said folding his arms.

"Huh, what?"

"You **_like_** him, don't cha?" said Naruto smirking. Konohamaru grinned at Tenten, and wriggled his eyebrows.

"Eh? What? No! I was just-"

"Uh-huh, sure, Got to your tent!" scolded Naruto.

Tenten sighed and walked away but not before smiling inwardly to herself. Naruto and Konohamaru waited until she left and winked at each other. "Let's do it Cricket-Boy!" smirked Naruto to his partner as they both sneaked up to Mizuki's tent and waited for the said person to leave for his bath. The moment the coast was clear Naruto and Konohamaru creeped in. Grabbing an empty piece of paper and ink palette Naruto left Konohamaru to type the letter while he doodled on Mizuki's portrait. When the cricket was done, Naruto grabbed the the paper and read it Konohamaru cleaned the ink from his feet with a tissue paper.

"Hmm lets see...From General Hiashi, Dear Neji we are waiting for you at the Valley of the End, it would mean a lot for us if you would come with the troops and back us up...hmm..."said Naruto before smiling at Konohamaru. "It's good, but you forgot, _since we're out candy, why don't you bring up some. _HELLO? This is the **_Army-dattebayo!_** Make it sound more urgent!" yelled the fox.

Konohamaru quickly saluted and dipped his feet in the ink palette once and typed out another letter this making sure it sounded more urgent, like a cry for help. Naruto quickly read through the letter and this time nodded in approval, snatching the paper out from under the cricket.

* * *

Outside Kankuro was busy drinking water from a through when he felt something scramble on his back. He looked up to see Naruto and Konohamaru sitting on his back.

"Kankuro! Buddy! Look we need a ride-" Naruto began to ask casually when Kankuro replied by spitting him of his back with water. The horse then looked at the cricket who backed off and hopped away.

* * *

At the lake, Mizuki was just about leave. In his hand was a soggy slipper of his. "Stupid, insubordinate ruffians..." he grumbled angrily. "YOU GUYS OWE ME A NEW PAIR OF SLIPPERS!" Mizuki yelled over his shoulder. _"And I do **not** squeal like a girl- KYAAAAAAAAAAA!"_ screamed Mizuki as his slipper got eaten suddenly by a panda.

He looked up to see a large man wearing an Anbu uniform. "Urgent news from the General-ttebayo!" exclaimed the 'man' who was really Naruto who used his fox powers to transform into an Anbu militant.

Mizuki eyed the man before staring at the panda curiously.

"What's the matter? Never seen a Panda before-ttebayo?" demanded Naruto shaking the rolled up message at Mizuki who snatched it from his hand.

"Who are _you?"_ he asked the man suspiciously.

"EXCUSE ME? I think the question is 'who are **_you'_**? We're in a freaking WAR-dattebayo! Don't go asking stupid questions!" yelled Naruto throwing Mizuki off. "You're lucky I'm not gonna report you!" he yelled as the panda he was on began to move while Mizuki backed away.

Just as the man turned to read the message, Naruto's tails had slipped out. Mizuki gasped when he read the message and turned to confront the man who had vanished. Not wasting anytime, Mizuki quickly ran off to Neji's tent while the Anbu member puffed into smoke revealing Naruto and Konohamaru who watched him go. "Hey thanks !" said Naruto to the bear who grunted in reply as the fox and cricket quickly followed Mizuki through the nearby trees.

* * *

"Captain! Urgent news from Lord Hiashi! We're needed at the battlefield!" cried Mizuki bursting into Neji's tent holding the message, while Naruto and Konohamaru smirked and high-fived each other at their success.

* * *

Early next day, the troops donned their Anbu uniforms packed up their stuff and moved out. Since Tenten, wearing her Anbu uniform with her monkey mask by her waist, was the only recruit with a horse, she was made in charge to pull the weapon cart. As the men trudged through the mountains they began their song.

_**The Troops:**_

_**For a long time we've been**_  
_** marching off to battle...**_

_**"In our thundering herd**__**, we feel a lot like cattle**_," grumbled Kiba, who wore his wolf mask at the side of his head just as they walked past a cow field.

_**Troops:**_

_**Like the pounding beat**_  
_** Our aching feet aren't**__** easy to ignore**_!

_** "Hey, think of instead**__**, a girl worth fighting for**_~...!" sang Lee, whose rabbit mask also hung on his waist, optimistically placing his arms around Choji ( He got a bull mask) and Kiba who smiled at the thought.

"Huh?" said Tenten in confusion, when Lee appeared next to her and placed an arm on her shoulders.

_**"That's what I said!**__** A girl worth fighting for~..!" **_he sang taking a poster of Sakura Haruno out of his shirt and began to fantasize.

* * *

**_Lee's Fantasy (Sakura)  
_**

_**I want her paler than the**__** moon,**_

_** with eyes that**__** shine like stars!

* * *

**_

_**Kiba's Fantasy (Hinata)**_

_**My girl will marvel at my strength,**_

_**Adore my battle scars!

* * *

**_

**_Choji's Fantasy (Ino)_**

**_I couldn't care less what she'll_****_ wear or what she looks like! It all depends on what_****_ she cooks like_**,  
**_ Beef, pork, chicken_**,  
**_ Mmm...~!

* * *

_** The group soon began to cross a shallow river carrying their masks and katana over their heads.

**_ "Bet the local girls thought that you were quite the charmer~!"_** sang Kiba playfully nudging Tenten when he suddenly tripped and fell underwater causing a fish to splash up which Choji caught happily.

_**"And I'll bet the ladies love a man in armor~!" **_sang Lee as he emerged from the water suddenly looking buff as he began posing until the water caught in his uniform drained out back to his normal size.

**_"You can guess what we have missed the most, since we went off to war!" _**sang the guys as they walked past a rice field where a group of lovely young ladies were harvesting rice. Naruto whistled loudly at them making Tenten blush in embarrassment when the girls stared at him and giggled.

_**Lee: What do we want?**_

_**Guys: A girl worth fighting for~...!

* * *

**_

_**Kiba:My girl will think I have no faults!**_

_**Choji: That I'm a major find! **_

_(Lee, Kiba and Choji crowded around Tenten and looked at him expectantly.)**  
**_

_**"Um..How 'bout a girl who's got a brain! Who always speaks her mind?****" **_she tried after shuffling nervously, making the guys look at her incredulously.

_**"Nah!**_" they all replied in unison.

Lee leaned against the cart which had stopped for a moment and pretended to act cool. **"**_**My manly ways and turn of**__** phrase are sure to thrill her**_!_**"**_

_**Kiba: ***Whispers to Tenten* **He thinks he's such a lady killer! Hah! **_(Slaps Kankuro's rump making the horse bolt, causing Lee to fall face first into a mud puddle.)

* * *

The air got colder as the group trekked deeper into the snowy mountains and quickly wore their jackets.

**_"I've a girl back home, who's unlike any other~!" _**boasted Mizuki as he pulled on his snow hood.

**_"Yeah, the only girl who'd love him is his Mother!"_** whispered Kiba to Tenten who snickered in amusement making Mizuki frown.

* * *

**_Guys:_**

**_But when we come home_****_ in victory they'll line up_****_ at the door~!_**

**_"What do we want?_**" sang Lee getting carried on Choji's shoulders.

**_"A girl worth fighting for__~!_**" sang the others in response placing trapping Tenten as they linked themselves together.

**_Lee: Wish that I had_**-

**_Guys: A girl worth fighting for~~...!_**

Tenten finally got free and whistled casually when she saw that Lee, Choji and Kiba were going to pelt her with snowballs. Just as she turned to run, Tenten froze at what she saw in front of her. The guys who were ready to throw their snowballs also stopped.

**_"A girl worth fighting-"_** everyone was about to sing when they cut themselves off at the destruction before their eyes.

Tenten gasped when she saw that a whole village had literally been burnt to the ground with barely any remains. Not a soul was left as the troops walked through the ruins while a burnt bell hanging nearby rung eerily in the cold wind. Naruto and Konohamaru stuck their heads out of the cart and stared in horror and disbelief at the destruction.

"Search for survivors!" ordered Neji loudly, as the troops nodded and spread out.

Tenten patted Kankuro on the nose and began to search when she spotted a little doll on the ground. She picked it up, fighting back tears as she hugged it, praying silently for the spirit of the little girl who owned the doll.

Neji appeared behind and jumped off his horse. "I don't understand it, Uncle should have been here..." he muttered.

"CAPTAIN!" yelled Mizuki standing at the top of a hill. He shook his head sadly as he pointed what was awaiting below.

Tenten and Neji walked up and gasped in horror at the bloody massacre of the Konoha troops strewn all over the place. Suddenly, Choji walked up carrying Lord Hiashi's eagle mask. "The General...sir...I am so sorry..." said Choji handing the mask to Neji who looked at it in despair and walked away just as the others caught up to them. They too gasped at the bloody horrors of the battle field.

Tenten bowed her head sadly as she turned to where Neji stood and walked up to him. Neji looked down his Uncle's mask and gripped it tightly, his expression unreadable. Slowly, Neji removed his sword and stabbed it in the ground and hung the mask on it before bowing in silent prayer.

"I'm sorry..." he heard Tenten say softly behind him as he stood up.

Neji looked at Tenten and placed a hand on her shoulder briefly before walking away. Tenten looked at the doll in her hands and placed by the katana. She could no longer contain herself as tears began to run down her face before she turned to leave.

Neji jumped on his horse and looked at his troops solemnly. "The Akatsuki is moving quickly! If we want to get to Konoha fast, we're gonna have to go through the Valley of the End! Move out!" he ordered as he galloped off with the other troops following closely behind.

* * *

The rest of the journey was deadly quiet and tense. Suddenly, a rocket fired loudly from the cart and exploded in the air, making everyone jump out of their skins.

Tenten and Kankuro turned their heads to glare at Naruto and Konohamaru who stared out the burnt hole with wide eyes. Despite the fact Naruto had wisps of smoke emerging from his mouth, he still pointed his paw at the cricket who frowned at him. Tenten frowned as well when Neji suddenly galloped up to her.

"What just happened?" he demanded angrily.

"I-uh..."

"You just gave away our position!" yelled Neji angrily when suddenly a kunai struck him in the shoulder, knocking him of his horse.

Suddenly there were loud cries in the distance as the troop looked up to see a shower of kunai and arrows raining down on them. "GET OUT OF RANGE!"yelled Neji pulling the kunai from his shoulder as everyone began to scatter.

Just as Tenten tried to help Kankuro pull the cart, some arrows that were set on fire hit the the cart setting ablaze.

_"OH CRAP! TENTEN, HELP ME!"_ neighed Kankuro in a panic as he began to thrash about to release himself.

"SAVE THE CANNONS!" cried Neji as the others quickly ran up and began removing as much cannons as possible. Choji was able to save the most by carrying them in large bundles.

Tenten quickly withdrew her katana and sliced Kankuro's harness before jumping on his back. Just as the two were some distance away, the cart exploded, blasting the two away but they were uninjured.

"ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGH!" screamed Naruto and Konohamaru as they got blasted out and landed in the snow just next to Tenten.

Naruto slowly got up smoking and wobbled in a daze as he frowned at Tenten. "Oh sure...save the horse..." he said sarcastically before flopping over.

Tenten quickly grabbed the fox, cricket and her sword as she ran towards the others with Kankuro following close behind.

"FIRE!" ordered Neji signaling for he others to light their cannons.

Many of the cannons hit their mark accurately where some of the Akatsuki men were hiding. Meanwhile, Mizuki cowered under a rock, sucking his thumb. Almost all the cannons were used up save for Kiba's. Neji quickly put up a hand to stop the guy from lighting it as he narrowed his eyes towards the distance.

Pein sat on his horse and stared down at the soldiers with Sasuke on his shoulder. Suddenly, he came charging down followed by the main Akatsuki members , followed by a much, much larger army of thousands.

"Prepare to fight!"commanded Neji removing a new katana and putting on his hawk mask. The others swallowed and followed suit, taking out their own swords and putting on their own masks. "If we die, we die with honor!"

"Kiba, aim the canon at Pein," Neji ordered Kiba, who began to carefully position it.

Tenten stared nervously when she noticed the reflection of an overhanging mountain in her sword. Looking up at it and then at the canon before finally resting her eyes on Pein, an idea struck her. Just as Kiba was about to light the cannon, Tenten tackled him and grabbed it, slipping on her Monkey mask as she ran ahead towards Pein with it.

"Tenmaru! What are doing? Come back here, that's an order!" cried Neji but Tenten ignored him and jammed the cannon in the snow, aiming it carefully at the mountain.

Naruto looked over the girl's shoulder to see Pein getting closer and closer. "Hurry up! Light it! Light it!" yelled Naruto in a panic.

Tenten also began to panic as she quickly took out her flint stones and was about to strike them when Sasuke suddenly came down and knocked her over making the girl drop the flints. "Not good! Not GOOD!" cried Naruto as he tried to help Tenten find the stones.

"COME ON, WE GOTTA HELP!" cried Kiba raising his sword as he, Choji and Lee ran out crying battle cries.

Tenten in the meantime had no luck finding the stones as she racked her brains while Pein was now only a few metres closer. Suddenly, in the spur of the moment, Tenten grabbed Naruto by the neck and pulled his tails hard, forcing the fox to expel to burning red chakra. The cannon successfully ignited as it fired carrying Naruto along with it just inches away from who now stood in front Tenten as his horse reared up in shock.

"YOU MISSED! YOU FREAKIN' MISSED! HOW COULD YOU MISS? HE'S RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF YOU-DATTEBAYO!" **_KABOOM! _**went the fox as he and the rocket went exploding into the mountain.

Tenten smirked at Pein through her mask as the man turned and gasped to see a huge avalanche coming towards them, already taking out 3/4 of the Akatsuki. Just as the girl tried to run, Pein slashed at her with his spike. Tenten gripped her side in pain and began running towards the others, quickly grabbing Neji's hand as she ran past him. The others also quickly turned and ran back down the mountain.

The Akatsuki members were also trying to get away but were not successful as they all got buried by flowing snow. Kankuro finally got himself loose from the guy hanging on to him and galloped towards Tenten and Neji. The girl grabbed the horse's reins and swung herself onto Kankuro's back as she reached out for Neji who tried to grab her hand but were both caught in the avalanche. Kiba and boys quickly jumped behind a large boulder where the others hid. The boulder was able to shelter them from the snow as the avalanche sailed harmlessly over them and down the cliff side.

* * *

"TENTEN!" called Naruto as he slid over the avalanche riding a shield as a sled. "TENTEEEEEN!"

Suddenly, Naruto saw a bit of hair sticking out of the snow. "Tenten?" he asked hopefully grabbing the only to pull up some random guy who yelled in pain. "NOPE!" the fox quickly said shoving the guy's head back down into the snow. Naruto then quickly made a grab at a pair of feelers sticking out of the snow to reveal Konohamaru. "Kid, you are one Lucky Cricket!" he exclaimed hanging on to him.

* * *

At that moment Kankuro and Tenten burst out of the snow as the horse tried to run against the flow. "Oh NO! NEJI!" she cried when she saw an unconscious Neji getting swept away. Quickly, the girl turned her horse around and rode the flow instead, catching to Neji in no time. Tenten quickly grabbed the guy and placed him over Kankuro's back.

* * *

"Do you see them?" yelled Choji who was carrying Lee with one hand, who in turn had Kiba on his shoulders carrying a bow and arrow with a rope attached.

"Yeah!" replied Kiba as he fired the arrow towards Tenten. "Perfect! Now I'll just pull them to safe-" Kiba exclaimed and grabbed at the trailing rope only just miss it. "-ty..."

* * *

Kankuro was exerting himself trying to fight the current as the group found themselves getting swept closer to the cliff edge.

At that moment, Naruto came sliding up to them. "Hey Tenten! I found the Lucky Cricket-ttebayo!" he exclaimed holding out Konohamaru.

"WHAT I NEED IS HELP!" yelled Tenten when at that moment, the arrow Kiba fired landed next to her. She quickly wasted no time in grabbing the rope using it to harness Kankuro while Naruto jumped on to the horse with Konohamaru.

"Oooh, very nice, you can sit by me!" said the fox placing the cricket beside him, when the two suddenly gasped, clutched each other and screamed at the top of their lungs. "WE'RE DEAD! WE'RE DEAD! WE'RE DEAD!" screamed Naruto in a frenzy just as they all went over the mountain edge.

Not wasting another second, Tenten prayed on her lucked and fired the arrow with her own bow.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kiba was beating himself up in frustration. "I can't believe I let them slip through my fingers!" he cried when the arrow suddenly landed in his hands as he gripped it tightly.

Suddenly, Kiba yelled as he found himself yanked towards the edge. Everyone else quickly dog piled him to prevent him from slipping further. "QUICK! PULL! PULL!" yelled Kiba, gripping the arrow tightly as the others tried to pull him with a lot of difficulty.

Just then, Choji came up from behind and bowed before scooping them all up in his arms, lifting them easily, much to their surprise. Choji easily began walking backwards, pulling up Tenten, Kankuro, Neji, Naruto and Konohamaru.

"DATTEBAYO!"cheered Naruto. "You the Man! Well...sort of..."

* * *

It didn't take long for the group to pull Tenten and the rest up. Kankuro quickly trotted off while Tenten took off her mask and breathed heavily next to Neji who was regaining consiousness. The Captain glanced over to Tenten and furrowed his brows. "Tenmaru, I don't know whether to call you Smart or incredibly Insane..."

Tenten lowered her head in shame.

"But either way, I owe you my life. From now on, I have complete trust in you," he said.

Tenten looked up to see him smile at her, making her blush and smile back as well.

"LET'S HEAR IT FOR TENMARU! THE BRAVEST, MOST YOUTHFUL SOLDIER OF KONOHA!" cheered Lee as he and Kiba danced around while jumped joy, accidentally knocking over a few guys.

Neji held out his hand to help Tenten stand when suddenly she cringed in pain and collasped, clutching her side. "Tenmaru! What's wrong?" asked Neji in concern before gasping when he saw the wound that Tenten had received earlier bleeding profusely. "He's badly hurt! Someone get help!"

Tenten began to feel dizzy from the loss of blood. _"Hold on Tenmaru, you're gonna be alright! Hold on!"_were the last words she heard Neji say before everything faded out to darkness.


	7. It's Do or Die!

**It's Do or Die!**

* * *

Neji paced about back and forth outside the medical tent along with the others waiting worriedly.

Suddenly the doctor (Kabuto) emerged from the tent and grimly gestured to Neji. Kabuto bent slightly and whispered something making Neji lift his head in shock. Naruto and Konohamaru looked at each other in despair as they knew they had been found out.

Neji burst into the tent to see 'Tenmaru' , just waking up. 'He' gave him a small smile and sat up, 'his' blanket slipping down to reveal cleavage under 'his' bandages. Neji widened his eyes in disbelief at seeing 'Tenmaru's' true gender.

Upon seeing his expression, Tenten looked down and realized that her chest (and her secret) has been exposed. She gasped as she pulled up the blanket to cover herself. "I-I can explain!" she stammered, this time in her real voice when Mizuki burst in and gasped when he saw Tenten covering her chest.

"So it's true!" he exclaimed as Neji left the tent feeling betrayed.

"I **_knew_** there was something wrong with you! A GIRL!" announced Neji dragging out Tenten by the arm as she desperately tried to cover herself. Mizuki pulled off her hair tie, letting her brown hair fall over her shoulders, making everyone gasp.

Kiba, Lee and Choji looked at each other as they realized that their former suspicions were right.

"Treacherous Snake!" spat Mizuki, throwing her down into the snow.

Tenten lifted her head and glared poisonously at the counsel. "I am no snake, nor is my name Tenmaru. My _**real**_ name is Tenten!" she said fiercely at him before turning to Neji who didn't look at her. "I did this to save my father. You of all people should understand, Neji."

"HIGH TREASON!" declared Mizuki loudly.

"I didn't mean it to go this far!" explained Tenten ignoring Mizuki.

"ULTIMATE DISHONOR!"

"IT WAS THE ONLY WAY!" yelled Tenten. "PLEASE, believe me!"

Mizuki scoffed at her as he walked to Neji. "Captain!"

Neji turned and looked at Tenten who stared into his pale eyes. Suddenly, he walked to where Kankuro was and removed the katana that was strapped to his saddle. Naruto and Konohamaru gasped in despair once more while Kankuro reared up on his hind legs.

_"NO! TENTEN!"_he neighed as Kankuro tried to save his master but was restrained by the men.

"Restrain that creature!" ordered Mizuki, when Kankuro reared up once more and kicked him in the butt. "YEOW!" screamed Mizuki in pain, glaring at the horse.

Lee, Kiba and Choji quickly tried to save Tenten as well but were dog-piled to the ground by the rest of the army.

"LET US GO!" snarled Kiba, struggling fiercely.

"She maybe a girl, but Tenten's still our Youthful comrade and best friend!" declared Lee angrily as his arms got pinned down.

"She risked her life to save ALL OUR LIVES! Especially yours, NEJI! If you KILL her! We'll NEVER Forgive you!" cried Choji.

"SILENCE! One more word and you'll ALL be executed!" roared Mizuki rubbing his sore spot where Kankuro had kicked him.

Tenten looked at her friends and smiled at them reassuringly. _'Guys...thank you so much...'_

The trio's words also seemed to have affected Neji as well as he hesitated raising the sword above his head. Tenten bowed her head waiting for the blow when she heard a loud clang in front of her. The girl lifted her head to see the sword in front of her before looking up at Neji confused.

"A life for a life, my debt is repaid..." said Neji coldly as he walked off. "Everybody move out!"

Mizuki stared at Neji in disbelief. "B-but, but-! You can't just-!"

"I said, **_Move Out,_**"repeated the captain giving Mizuki a stare so deadly and intense the the man simply backed off in fear.

Tenten couldn't say anything and looked down silently when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Lee giving her a reassuring grin and thumbs up as he gave Tenten her clothes he retrieved from the tent. Kiba patted Tenten on the back, dropping her an extra blanket on her lap, winking and smiling a little at her. Choji then tapped Tenten's shoulder and held out a bag of meat buns.

_"Here, you'll need these more than I do..."_ he whispered smiling as the trio grabbed their stuff and ran off to catch up with the others.

Tenten watched their disappearing figures, feeling a little happy that she made some really good friends.

* * *

Later that night, after slipping on her Anbu uniform once more, Tenten curled up into ball, shivering while Kankuro helped draped the blankets over her and sat beside her to keep her warm. Konohamaru tossed a few more sticks into a small fire he made before joining Tenten under her blanket shivering.

Naruto kicked up a little snow feeling incredibly dejected. "I was so close...just **_this_** close to be getting my old job back-ttebayo..." he muttered as he picked up a broken arrow, stabbed a meat bun from the bad Choji left and tried to heat it over the tiny fire, plopping next to Tenten. "Hi..." he said bluntly to her.

"I should have never left home..." muttered Tenten dejectedly.

"Hey...your heart was in the right place. You wanted to save your father, right?" asked Naruto trying to make her feel better.

"But now look at me...abandoned and having dishonored my family...I can't do anything right..." said Tenten bitterly as she bowed her head, hot tears streaming down her cheeks.

Naruto placed his bun down and placed a paw on Tenten's hand. "Come on, you knew the risks of doing this and you still took the chance! You can't get more righteous than that-dattebayo!"

Tenten looked at the fox through her tear filled eyes as another thought struck her. "Maybe...just saving my Father isn't the only reason I ran away...maybe the real reason I wanted to do this...was to prove to him and myself that I can be somebody..." she said as she picked up her headband and looked at her reflection in the shiny metal plate. "Maybe it's so that, when I look in the mirror, I can see a girl who's worthwhile...but right now...I see nothing..." she said dropping the headband.

Naruto looked at Tenten and picked up the headband. "In that case, all it needs is a little spit and polish-ttebayo!" Naruto tried to exclaim cheerfully before spitting on the metal plate and polishing it with his tails, when he caught his own reflection. The fox's smile disappeared as his ears and tails drooped sadly. "Who am I kidding?..The truth is Tenten, we're both frauds...your ancestors never sent me. They practically hate my guts..."

Tenten widened her eyes at Naruto at the news. "But you know, in comparison, your intentions were noble. You risked your life to save loved ones while I risked your life for my own selfish reasons...If anything, I should be the dishonorable one-ttebayo!" said Naruto, putting down the head band in front of Konohamaru.

The cricket looked at his own reflection and began to cry as well. _"I'M NOT LUCKY AT ALL!" _he wailed.

"WHAT? What do you mean you're not lucky?" demanded Naruto grabbing Konohamaru. "You _lied_ to me?"

Konohamaru nodded sadly in response. Naruto then turned to Kankuro. "And what are you, a sheep?"

_"Don't push your luck, Kit..."_ threatened Kankuro, snorting at the fox in annoyance.

Naruto rolled his eyes and dropped Konohamaru onto the snow. He looked at Tenten and whimpered.

"I guess I'm going to have to face my father sooner or later...let's go home guys..." sighed Tenten standing up.

Naruto looked at Tenten in disbelief as he hopped onto her shoulder. "WHAT? AFTER ALL WE'VE DONE? NO!" he cried in protest much to Tenten's surprise. "Look Tenten, you've worked your butt off to fight for your father and you're giving up right now? We're not gonna let it end like this! We started this mission together, and we're gonna finish it-dattebayo!"

Tenten looked at Naruto with tears brimming her eyes. "You really mean it?

The fox smiled as he lifted Tenten's hand and wrapped it up with his nine tails. "I promise, and I never go back on my word. That's my Kitsune Way-dattebayo!"

Suddenly Tenten grabbed Naruto and hugged the little fox tightly with a smile on her face.

* * *

At that moment, Sasuke was soaring over the remnants of the battlefield. His Sharingan eyes scoured over the hundreds of the dead Akatsuki army that got killed in the avalanche. Suddenly, a large lump of snow shifted to reveal Pein. Sasuke screeched loudly as he doubled back to the man. Pein looked around him at was left of his once great army.

**_"NOOOOOOOOOO...!" _**he cried out loudly in anger, his voice echoing throughout the mountains, making Tenten and others look up with a start when they heard the familiar cry.

They looked over the mountainside to see, Sasori, Deidara, Itachi, Kisame and Zetsu emerging bursting out of the snow and walked up to where Pein was. Sasuke screeched as he landed on Pein's shoulder. The man said nothing as he glanced at his hawk before making his way towards the capital city of Konoha, with the others following wordlessly.

* * *

Tenten gasped loudly as she quickly ran back and grabbed her katana and mask from the snow. Sheathing the sword, Tenten took out a pair of hair ties from her bag and used it to tie her hair back up into a pair of hair buns, although now they were smaller since her hair was shorter. Quickly tying her headband around her forehead, Tenten jumped on Kankuro's back and began heading down the path.

"Hey, I thought you were going home?" asked Naruto grabbing the bag of meat buns with Konohamaru on his head.

"Someone has to warn the Hokage."

"Hel-LOOOOOO? Did you not see those Akatsuki guys-ttebayo?" exclaimed Naruto in disbelief. "They just popped out of the snow! LIKE DAISIES!" (**_R.F.: x3 My FAVORITE LINE EVER!)_**

"We started this mission together, and we're going to finish it, right?" said Tenten, smiling as she repeated what Naruto had said a few minutes ago.

Konohamaru and Naruto looked at each other before grinning at Tenten. "I promise, and I never go back on my word. That's my Kitsune Way-dattebayo!" repeated the fox as he jumped on Kankuro's back with the cricket and held on to Tenten. "LET'S GO KICK SOME AKATSUKI BUTTS-DATTEBAYO! **_AAARRRROOOOOOOOOOOO...!_**" he howled excitedly as the horse galloped off towards the city.

* * *

Meanwhile, a huge festival was going on as a parade of musicians and acrobats came marching down the street along with a Chinese Dragon.

"MAKE WAY FOR THE HEROES OF KONOHA!" announced Ibiki who flourished his hand at the soldiers behind him.

Mizuki marched forward on his horse smiling and waving as if all the glory was his. However, despite the happy cheers and festivities, all the soldiers, including Neji had their heads hung low sadly as they all knew that the real war hero was Tenten, who had taken down the Akatsuki with her quick wit.

Suddenly, there was a loud neighing as Tenten burst through the crowd on Kankuro. "Neji!" she called riding up to the captain.

"Tenten?" said Neji in surprise.

"Neji, some of the Akatsuki have survived the avalanche! I saw them, they're in the city!"

"You don't belong here, go home you fraud," said Neji coldly as he brushed past her.

Tenten narrowed her eyes and caught up with him again. "Neji you have to warn the Lady Hokage, she's in danger. You have to believe me!"

_**"And why should I?..."**_ demanded the Captain in a low cold voice.

Tenten and Kankuro frowned heavily. _"Oh no you don't, Pretty Boy!" _snorted the horse as he galloped ahead and planted himself firmly in front of Neji.

The girl glared at Neji like he was a hypocrite. "You said you trusted Tenmaru, why is Tenten any different?" she simply asked, taking Neji aback before she made Kankuro step aside and allowed the troops to pass.

Kiba, Choji and Lee looked at Tenten readily as they walked past her. "Stay on your guard guys, I know their hiding somewhere close," said Tenten, to which the guys smiled and nodded their heads before Tenten galloped off. Just as they neared the Hokage Tower, Tenten jumped off.

"And where are you going?" asked Naruto.

"To find someone who will believe me!" replied the girl over her shoulder as she ran into the crowd that had gathered as Taiko Drums began playing loudly and fireworks began to fire into the sky.

Tenten quickly ran over to a guard and tried to tell him of the oncoming danger but was rudely brushed off. She then tried another who immediately gave her the same reaction. Tenten sighed in frustration as Naruto caught up and jumped on her shoulder. "Why won't anyone listen?"

"Huh? I'm sorry did you say something?" replied Naruto digging his ear.

"NARUTO!"

"Well SOR-RY! If you haven't realized it yet, **YOU** are a **_GIRL,_** crying 'Danger!' when everyone believes the enemy is **dead**!"

"Well, Genius! What's you're big idea?" retorted Tenten.

* * *

At that moment, Neji and the troops had ascended up the stairs to the Hokage tower where Tsunade stood waiting in a formal golden kimono. The music stopped and all was silent as Neji bowed down before the Hokage and presented in his hands, the spiked rod that Pein had used.

"My Lady, I present to you the Spike of Pein," announced Neji holding it out to her.

"I know what this means to you, Captain Neji. Lord Hiashi would be proud," said Tsunade smiling at Neji.

Just before she had a chance to take the spike, Sasuke came dive-bombing from the sky and snatched up the weapon, carrying towards the highest roof to where the silhouettes of stone lions could be seen and dropped it. Suddenly, one of the lions shifted and caught the spike, revealing the person to be Pein, much to the horror of the crowd as Sasuke landed on his shoulder.

_'Tenten was right...!'_ exclaimed Neji in disbelief and regret for his ignorance of Tenten's warning.

Before he could react, the rest of the Akatsuki burst out of the dragon and knocked Neji down before grabbing Tsunade and dragging her back into the Tower where the others followed closely behind and closed the giant doors, locking it from inside.

"NO!" cried Neji as he ran up the stairs followed by his troops with Pein laughing mockingly at them before disappearing.

Not willing to give up, Neji and the others quickly grabbed a large stone Lion statue and began to use it as a battering ram. Tenten quickly ran up the stairs and hesitated. "There's no way they will reach the Hokage in time..." she muttered when an idea struck her.

Running up the stairs to the troops, Tenten whistled loudly to them, making them stop.

"KIBA! CHOJI! LEE! I have an idea, come on!" she called running off.

The three guys looked at each other and grinned before running after her, leaving Neji and the troops.

* * *

"Where are we going?" asked Choji, as the group ran through the back entrance which the staff use.

Tenten grabbed a few kimono's from a nearby box and a make-up kit. "We're going to free the Hokage, and this time, we're going to do it with a woman's touch!" she said pouncing on the guys, with her eyes a gleaming.

_**(R.F:**** CUE THE MUSIC! *presses a remote causing the song 'BE A MAN!' to play once more.)**_

_**BE A MAN!**_

Choji held his breath as Kiba helped him pull on and tighten a corset around his middle.

**_BE A MAN!_**

Tenten began to apply make-up to the boy's faces.

**_BE A MAN!  
_**

Once Tenten was finished, the boys flourished their fans and stood like super models in their new kimonos.

**_BE A MAN!_**

Choji had on a turquoise kimono with a wave pattern and a gold obi. The corset he wore gave him a more slender appearance while his brown hair was tied in a ponytail. Kiba had his messy brown hair combed out straight with hair gel with his fringe over one eye to give a more feminine look to him. He wore a black and red kimono with an autumn design. Lee's hair was pulled back into a bun and held in place with hair sticks. His kimono was forest green and gold and had a high slit to reveal his surprisingly long, sexy and clean shaven legs. Tenten had applied make up on them in such away that the boys actually looked like girls even despite the fact Lee had refused to shave his eyebrows. They all carried matching colored fans and wore clip on gold earrings.

_**BE A MAN!**_

_**(You must be swift as the coursing river!)  
**_

Finally the guys marched to some pillars with Tenten leading them in her own light pink kimono with a green obi and plum blossom design. She wore the least make-up since she was already a girl. She kept her hair tied up in a single bun once more but this time she added gold hair pins. The four quickly whipped out their headbands and wrapped it around the pillars before each of them and pulled tightly and looked at each other readily. Just then, Tenten felt a tap on her shoulder and turned her head to see Neji smiling at the group as he took off his head band and copied the others and nodded.

_**BE A MAN!**_

_**(With all the force of a great Typhoon!)**_

The others smiled back in pleasant surprise and nodded in reply as they all began to use their headbands to help them climb up the pillars to an open balcony.

**_BE A MAN!_**

**_(Will all the strength of a Raging Fire! Mysterious as the Dark Side of the MOOOOOOOOOONN!...)

* * *

_**

Just then, Kisame and Deidara dragged the Hokage up to a balcony for all of Konoha to see.

"Boo.." said Pein as he came swinging down from the roof as he signaled for the other to go away before he began to circle Tsunade, whose expression remained calm and neutral. "Your walls and armies have fallen Lady Tsunade, and soon, so will you..." he said menacingly as Kisame and Deidara closed the door behind them and stood guard with Sasori, Itachi and Zetsu.

Tenten used the reflection of headband to peek out from a corner before hiding herself and turning to the trio. _"Okay guys, let's do this! Any questions?"_

_"Does this dress make my butt look big to you?"_ asked Kiba measuring his hips when he got socked in the head by Tenten in annoyance making him yelp.

"What was that?" exclaimed Black Zetsu.

The four quickly took their cue as they began trotting out and giggling girlishly, fanning themselves and batting their eyes flirtatiously with Kiba almost tripping.

"Relax, they're just concubines..." replied White Zetsu.

_"Yeah...**Ugly** concubines, un..."_muttered Deidara in disdain until Lee flashed his sexy legs, making the man unconsciously wolf whistle.

Kiba giggled and winked seductively at Kisame who stupidly grinned and waved back, making Sasori nudge him. Suddenly, everyone heard a small thud and looked down to see an apple roll out from underneath Lee's kimono with a bite mark. Lee quickly batted his eyes and giggled as he held his fan over the flat part of his chest where he had hidden the apple.

* * *

At that moment, Sasuke spotted Neji hiding in the corner and was about to screech to alert the others when suddenly-

_"Rasengan!" _exclaimed Naruto as softly as possible, hitting the hawk with a ball of red chakra, burning all of Sasuke's feathers off as he hit the wall unconscious.

Naruto grinned while Konohamaru jumped and high fived the fox. "Who's the bad-ass one now, bitch?" said Naruto casually blowing smoke from his paw.

* * *

Kisame continued to grin stupidly as he bent down to pick up the apple when the trio reached into their kimonos and pulled out the fruit they were using for boobs. Choji pulled out a pair of melons, Kiba a pair of lemons and Lee, the remaining apple. Before the Akatsuki could react, Choji quickly smashed the melons on to Sasori's and Zetsu's head before slamming them together, knocking them out effectively.

Deidara began to throw a punch at Lee who swiftly dodged and shoved the apple in his mouth. "KONOHA SENPUU!" he yelled jumping up and delivering a flying spinning kick at Deidara's head, sending the guy spinning and colliding head first into a pillar with a loud thud.

Kisame lifted his sword and began to swing it at Kiba who easily evaded it multiple times with each swing. Suddenly, Kiba ducked and tossed the lemons into the air which got sliced by the sword. Quickly catching them, Kiba rolled and aimed them at Kisame. "Eat this, blue dude!" he said squirting lemon juice into the man's eyes.

"MY EYES!" cried Kisame when Kiba quickly grabbed his arm and judo flipped him on his head so hard it went through the floor.

Itachi had his bow and arrow ready and fired at Tenten who removed her hair sticks and with her keen eye, she threw them, one easily knocking down the arrow from the air with great precision while the other hit a nerve on Itachi's hand causing him to drop his weapon. Tenten quickly ran up delivered an uppercut to Itachi, who blocked but it turned out to be a feint when Tenten rammed her knees upward to Captain. Winky. Itachi's eyes popped wide open clutching his 'man-servant' when Tenten performed a leg sweep, taking him down. The girl quickly sat on his back and used his bow to put him in a head-lock.

"NEJI, GO!" she yelled, prompting Neji to make his move as he unsheathed his sword and ran past the group to where the Hokage was being held.

* * *

"I am getting tired of your stubbornness, woman! I ORDER you to BOW to me!" said Pein threateningly brandishing his spiked rod at Tsunade who made no indication of fear.

"Well you can jolly well tire yourself out Pein, because this woman is remaining stubborn," replied Tsunade, smirking at Pein mockingly.

"Then you will kneel in pieces!" roared Pein thrusting his spike at the Hokage, when Neji jumped forward and knocked it away with his katana.

Tsunade quickly moved out of the way as Neji tried to swing his sword Pein who caught the young man's arm and wrenched the sword away. He then tried to throw Neji off the balcony but he quickly grabbed a nearby pillar and swung himself back inwards, kicking Pein in the face.

"JYUUKEN!" Neji cried, about to do a falling palm thrust when Pein rolled out of the way and kicked Neji in the stomach.

Fortunately, Neji recovered fast as he continued to strike at Pein with palm thrusts who easily blocked and dodged. Tenten and the others soon appeared at the scene.

"Choji, get the Hokage!" ordered Tenten, running towards a nearby rope from they hung lanterns leading all the way to the ground.

Choji nodded and ran up to Tsunade. "Please excuse me, Lady Hokage!" he apologized before grabbing the woman and running to where Tenten was. Using his headband, Choji held onto it tightly as he used it to let himself and Tsunade zip line to the ground safely followed close behind by Kiba and Lee.

"NO!" cried Pein, grabbing Neji and throwing him into a wall, making Tenten flinch.

"TENTEN, COME ON!" yelled Kiba from below.

Tenten looked at them before looking at Neji's unconscious form. Suddenly, she saw Pein running towards her. Quickly, she grabbed Neji's katana which was laying at her feet and used it to cut the rope, making it fall to the ground just before Pein could make a grab at it.

The crowd cheered loudly for the heroes and began to boo and jeer at Pein. "No..." Pein began to say in disbelief before he turned and glared fiercely at Neji who was just beginning to wake up as Tenten ran to his side.

Pein went to pick up his spike and stormed up to Neji who quickly pushed Tenten out of the way. The man grabbed Neji by the neck and held him high, brandishing his spike. "YOU! YOU TOOK AWAY MY VICTORY!" he roared and was about to impale Neji when a shoe came flying in like a boomerang and hit his head. Pein turned around in annoyance, rubbing the back of his head.

"No he didn't," said Tenten as the shoe came flying back to her, which she caught easily. "I did..." she said, using her sleeve to wipe off her make-up and removed her Monkey mask from her obi and held it in front of her face.

Pein widened his eyes as he recognized Tenten. "You're the soldier from the mountains..." he said in disbelief as he dropped Neji hard on the floor before beginning to walk towards Tenten.

"Uh-oh!" exclaimed the girl as she quickly slipped on her shoe and ran down the stairs, closing the door and locking it behind her. Tenten was about to sigh in relief when Pein suddenly punched through the door.

Tenten quickly rolled away and began to run, when Naruto came running up on all fours with Konohamaru riding his head. "Ok, so what's the plan?" asked Naruto as they turned a corner.

"Um..."

"YOU DON'T HAVE A PLAN-DATTEBAYO?"

Tenten frowned at the fox. "Look, I'm making this up as I-..."Tenten was about to say when she screeched to a stop by window which had a view of the fireworks tower. "go...Naruto!" she called to the fox who hopped on her shoulder and saw what she was looking at.

"I'm way ahead of you-dattebayo!" replied Naruto winking and giving the girl a thumbs up before jumping onto a passing bat shaped kite with Konohamaru and used it to glide towards the tower.

At that moment, Pein had burst through the door and searched angrily for Tenten, spotting her by the window. The man charged and stabbed his sword at Tenten, who was just barely to dodge as she scrambled up a nearby pillar. With a single punch, Pein broke the pillar causing it to crash through a wall with Tenten, who thankfully was able to keep her grip.

"LOOK!" yelled someone from below as they began to shout words of encouragement to Tenten while booing at Pein at the same time.

* * *

Meanwhile, Naruto had reached the tower. "Men, I need fire power!" he boomed in a deep voice.

"GAH! Who're you!" exclaimed one of the two men frightened.

_**"Your worst nightmare..."**_snarled the fox menacingly as his eyes glowed in the darkness, rearing up on his hind legs. He stretched out the bat kite on his back and fanned out his tails while snapping his jaws brandishing his claws, giving him an extremely frightening appearance.

The two men screamed and dived out the tower while the fox and cricket smiled and high fived each other triumphantly.

* * *

Tenten quickly climbed on to the roof and began to gauge the distance of the tower and the roof when Pein came bursting up from behind her. Tenten gasped loudly in fear as she began to back up slowly quickly feeling her kimono for something to use as a weapon but all she got was her fan.

"It looks like you're out of ideas," sneered Pein as he made a stab towards Tenten who quickly ducked and let the spike stab through the fan instead. In one swift move, Tenten snapped the fan shut and used it to wrench the spike from Pein's hand before catching it and brandishing it on her own.

"I don't think so!" she retorted pointing it at Pein's face. "Ready Naruto?" she called as Pein turned to see a small nine-tailed fox holding up a pair of bat wings.

"I AM READY BABY!" replied Naruto excitedly as he ripped off the wings to reveal his tails holding up a large fireworks rocket, aiming it directly at Pein. "Light me, Cricket Boy!"

_"Roger!"_ replied Konohamaru saluting as he pulled a match from one of the tails and struck it against the roof creating a small flame which he used to light the fuse.

Pein, still not willing to go down just yet, aimed a punch at Tenten who dodged and elbowed Pein in the stomach before leg-swiping him. Before he had a chance to recover, Tenten grabbed his spike and pinned down the base of his robe hard to the roof while the girl quickly hit the floor.

**_"AAAAAARRRRRRRROOOOO...YEAH!" _**howled Naruto loudly as the rocket fired, carrying the fox and cricket along with it.

Pein saw the rocket coming and tried to jump away but his pinned down robe prevented him from doing so as the rocket hit him dead on and blew him off the roof while Naruto grabbed onto the spike and released the rocket from his tails with Konohamaru clutching the fox's ears for support. Not wasting anytime, Tenten grabbed Naruto and Konohamaru and began to run in the opposite direction as she tucked them into her kimono.

"Get of the roof! Get of the roof! Get of the roof!" she said anxiously just as the rocket blasted Pein hard into the fireworks tower where the other fire works were and combusted, creating a huge colorful light display as Pein and the tower got blown to smithereens.

At that moment, Tenten swan-dived of the other side off the other side of the roof, grabbing onto a nearby lantern and zip lined down to the ground when she let go and accidentally landed on Neji who was running out. The two looked at each other and smiled in surprise as Pein's spike landed in between them and stabbed the ground, just missing the two by inches.

"THAT WAS AWESOOOOOME-DATTEBAYOOO!" exclaimed Naruto happily as he hit the ground rolling, using his tails as a cushion. Suddenly, he stuck out one tail to catch Konohamaru who looked very dazed with one of his feelers on fire. "You are one Lucky Cricket, you know that?" said Naruto licking his paw and used it to extinguish the burning feeler much to the cricket's relief.

The citizens cheered loudly in victory as the fireworks continued to light-up the area as smoke traveled down to where they were.

"That was a deliberate attempt on my life! WHERE IS SHE?" demanded Mizuki bursting from the smoke with a bald patch where his hair was burnt off. Kiba, Choji, Lee and Neji quickly stood protectively in front of the girl. "Now she's done, WHAT A MESS! Stand aside, BOY! That _**creature**_ is not worth protecting!"

"She's a **_Hero!_**" defended Neji, standing up up Mizuki.

"Tis' a **_woman_**! She'll never amount to anything!" exclaimed Mizuki ignorantly when Neji angrily grabbed his shirt and was prepared to punch him.

"Why you ignorant bastard! I outta-!"

"That'll do Neji!" commanded Tsunade emerging from the smoke.

Mizuki gulped, hoping that the Hokage didn't hear what he had said as Neji released him.

"My Lady, I can explain-!" Neji was about to say when Tsunade lifted her hand to silence him. She then crooked a finger at Tenten who meekly stepped forward and bowed her head.

"I've heard a lot about you, Sarutobi Tenten," the Hokage began to say sternly as Mizuki wore a sneering smile on his face. "You stole your father's uniform, ran away from home. Impersonated a soldier, _**deceived **_your commanding officer, dishonored the Konoha Army, _**Destroyed**_ my Tower! **_AND-"_** Tsunade roared loudly making everyone flinch.

"You have saved all of us..." Tsunade finished calmly making Tenten lift her head to see the Lady Hokage smiling at her.

Tenten was left speechless when Tsunade bowed her head down low in respect. Mizuki gasped and quickly got down on his knees and bowed down as well. The girl turned to her friends who smiled at her and bowed to her, getting on their knees. Still in shock of what was happening, Tenten whipped around to see the whole of Konoha bowing down to her in respect. Kankuro, who had made his way to the stairs bowed his head along with Naruto and Konohamaru who sat on his back.

"This is beautiful~!" spluttered Naruto with tears running down his face while Konohamaru helped wipe his tears with the fox's tail.

_"Yeah...it is..." _replied the cricket smiling.

Tenten turned back to the Hokage who stood up and glanced over to Mizuki. "Mizuki!" she called sharply.

"Yes Ma'am!"

"See to it that this young lady is made a part of my council," she said making the man stare at her in shock before recovering himself.

"Wha-? I-uh! Um, I mean, I regret to say that there are no Council positions open, Lady Hokage!" exclaimed Mizuki as he turned to hide a smirk.

Tsunade shrugged indifferently and smirked at the man. "No matter. You're fired!" exclaimed Tsunade glaring at him, much to Mizuki's disbelief. "So, a woman will never amount to anything, huh?"

Mizuki slapped his forehead before fainting to the ground with a thud. Tsunade rolled her eyes before looking at Tenten, smiling casually. "So how about it, Tenten? Care to take the job?"

Tenten softly shook her head and bowed. "With all due respect, My Lady. I think I've been away from home long enough," she politely declined.

"Very well then. Take this with you, so your family will know what you have done for me," said Tsunade, removing a crystal necklace from her neck and placing around Tenten's. "And this," she continued, removing Pein's spike and handing it to the girl. "So that the whole world will know what you have done for Konoha!"

Tenten silently gaped at the necklace and the spike before throwing her arms around Tsunade and hugged the Hokage tightly. Tsunade appeared a bit bemused as she hugged the girl back.

_"Is she allowed to do that?" _asked Kiba to the others curiously only to be responded with shrugs.

The girl finally broke off and cast Tsunade a final thank you smile .

"Come on guys! Group Hug!" called Tenten as she rushed up to Lee and Kiba who hugged her as well while Choji lifted them all up and gave them a big bear hug, almost squeezing the air out of them before putting them down.

Lee began to tear happily while Kiba pulled out a handkerchief from his obi and handed to Lee who blew his nose with it as they watched Tenten walk up to Neji, who averted his eyes and scratched the back of his head awkwardly, a small blush appearing on his face. "Um...Ano...You-" he began to stutter when Neji took a deep breath and calmed himself. "You fight good," he simply said patting Tenten on her back.

"Thanks," replied Tenten smiling, giving Neji a peck on the cheek much to his surprise before walking away and mounting Kankuro who had climbed up the stairs. "Come on Kankuro, let's go home," she said.

_"You betcha' Girl!"_ neighed the horse in agreement as he turned and leaped down the stairs as the Konoha citizens cheered loudly after them.

Neji watched the girl leave and sighed, absentmindedly touching his cheek where Tenten had kissed him. Tsunade cleared her throat as she stood next to him. "You know, the cherry blossom that blooms the latest is the most beautiful of all," she said glancing down at Neji.

"Ma'am?" said Neji in confusion.

Tsunade sighed heavily and shook her head. "What I mean is, you don't find a catch like her everyday!" explained the woman before flipping her hair and walking off, leaving Neji to ponder over her words.


	8. The Greatest Gift and Honor of All

_**The Greatest Gift and Honor of All...

* * *

**_ Back at the Sarutobi house, Asuma silently sat under the cherry tree which was beginning to shed it's blossoms. One particular blossom broke off and floated to the man's knee as he looked at it sadly.

At that moment, he heard a twig snap and looked up to see Tenten carrying a wrapped up spike wearing the Hokage's necklace. "Tenten!" he exclaimed in surprise about to get up when Tenten threw herself down and bowed at his feet in front of him.

"Father, I've brought you the Spike of Pein..." she said softly, placing the weapon in Asuma's hands before quickly removing the necklace. "And the Hokage's Crystal! They're gifts from lady Tsunade herself to honor the Sarutobi Family," she explained bowing once more.

Suddenly, she heard a thud as she saw the items being dropped on to the grounds before finding herself getting pulled into an embrace by Asuma. "The greatest Gift and Honor of All, is having you for a daughter, Tenten..." said Asuma looking at Tenten proudly as wiped the tears streaming from her face before hugging her again. "You have no idea how much I've missed you!"

"I've missed you too, Daddy..." said Tenten hugging her father tightly.

Kurenai and Chiyo stood not too far from the too. Kurenai sighed happily as she the touching moment while Chiyo scoffed in distaste. "Lovely... she's brings home a spike...If I were her I would have brought home a man-!"

"Excuse me? Does Tenten live here?" asked a new voice.

Kurenai and Chiyo gaped when they turned and saw a handsome young man with pearly eyes in an Anbu uniform carrying a Monkey mask. They were so speechless all they could do was point to where the said person was.

"Thank you," said Neji politely bowing and walking past them.

Chiyo widened her eyes as she watched him leave. _"A Hyuuga! WHOO! Sign **me** up for the next war!"_ she whispered to Kurenai excitedly, who rolled her eyes and shook her head.

* * *

Asuma got up when he saw Neji walking towards them. "Honorable Asuma, I-" he began to say when Tenten appeared from behind Asuma. "TENTEN!" he exclaimed blushing as he began to act flustered. "Uh...y-you forgot your mask! Um, w-well I mean, it's **your** mask!" Neji exclaimed stammering a little as he quickly held out the Monkey mask.

Asuma and Tenten side glanced each other and smirked before the girl stepped forward and took the mask gently from Neji's hands. "Would you like to stay for dinner?" she asked.

_"Would you like to stay forever?"_ asked Chiyo from afar making Tenten shake her head while Neji quirked an eyebrow.

"Dinner...would be great..."responded Neji smiling shyly at Tenten.

* * *

Hiruzen sighed happily as well as he watched the lovely scene in the garden from the temple window but his mood was quickly spoiled when Naruto hopped on to his head.

_"Come on...who did a good job?~ Come on, come on! Tell me who did a good job~dattebayo~?_" urged Naruto batting the ancestor's head with his tail.

Hiruzen frowned and sighed in defeat as he blew a tail out of his face. _"Oh alright...you can be Guardian again..."_

**_"YAAAAAATTAAAAAAAAAAA!"_** cheered Naruto happily jumping into the air and scrambling up to his pedestal as Konohamaru banged the gong hard, waking the other Ancestors in a single ring. "HIT IT, CRICKET-BOY!"

_"ALRIGHT! LET'S BREAK IT DOWN NOW!"_ exclaimed Konohamaru slipping on a pair of sunglasses and whipping out a microphone before busting out a funky rhythm by beat-boxing.

The Ancestors began to party and dance to Konohamaru's beat as the fox tossed down confetti on everyone.

_"You know she get's it from **my** side of the family!" _said Homura proudly while he and Koharu did the Macarena together.

Hashirama the Shodaime began to moon-walk as he tossed his head up like up volleyball while Sansho bounced it higher as she boogied with Ebisu who was disco dancing.

"RAMEN FOR EVERYONE!" cried Naruto swinging about on a rope when he accidentally collided with Hashirama's head and got thrown past Hiruzen who rolled his eyes and leaned against his memorial.

_"Hmph...Gaurdians..." _he muttered as Naruto landed rolling down the stairs where he got caught in Tenten's arms just as she was walking up the stairs.

"Thanks Naruto..." she said softly as Tenten smiled and kissed the Kyuubi on the head, much to his surprise as he looked up and smiled at the girl.

At that moment, Akamaru came running past them and ran into the temple barking excitedly as the hens followed closely behind.

_**"NARUTOOOOO!"**_ yelled Hiruzen as Tenten and Naruto looked at each other and bolted off laughing.

* * *

**_The End..._**


	9. Mulan AfterParty

**_Mulan After-Party_**

**_

* * *

_**It was finally the end of the story as the characters all gathered for a huge party to celebrate the success of the fanfiction.

**Ravena Felidae: *climbs up onto a podium and tapped a mike carrying a glass of root beer in one hand* **Minna! I want to thank you all for your co-operation in this story! Without you guys, this wouldn't have happened! SO KANPAI! **_*Raises Glass*_**

**_Everyone else: *Does likewise* KANPAI!

* * *

_**

With those who played the animals...

**_Naruto:_** Man, does it feel good to be human again! **_*Stretches arms before swiping an eclair from the buffet table*_**

**_Konohamaru:_** I couldn't agree more, Naruto-Oniichan! _***Sips juice from a carton***_

**Kankuro:_ *Shoves mouthful of meat into his mouth* _**Ohmigosh! Finally, I can eat meat again! I DON'T WANNA SEE ANOTHER VEGETABLE FOR AS LONG AS I LIVE!

**Sasuke: _*Eyes a plate of chicken and shoves it away, feeling a bit sick considering he had to play a bird*_**

* * *

(Tenten, R.F. and the guys_)_

**Tenten: _*looks at her shortened hair a bit upset before tying back up into hair buns*_** Not that I hated the role of Mulan, but it sucks having to cut my hair short like that.

**R.F.: _*Quirks eyebrow*_** Short? Tenten, you only cut your hair till your shoulder blades!

**Neji: **Personally, short hair really suits you Tenten.

**Kiba:** I agree, it's totally you!

**Choji: _*stuffs face with food and nods*_**

**Lee: **You couldn't look anymore Youthful, dear Tenten!**_*Grins and give's thumbs up*_**

**_Kankuro and Kakashi: *Starts charging towards R.F.*_** Ravena! I WANT KARASU/ MY BOOK BACK!

**_R.F: _(0_0) **Uh-oh! Sorry boys, gotta SPLIT! **_*Opens and jumps into a portal*_** LATER DAYS! **_*Portal closes just as the two ninja reached it.*_**

**_Kankuro and Kakashi: (T~T) _**NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...!**_  
_**


End file.
